Renault Austral, with great looks and features, breaks cover
French automaker Renault has introduced its Austral SUV in the international markets. It will go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year. As for the highlights, the car bears an aggressive look and has an upmarket cabin with a bevy of tech-forward features. Under the hood, the vehicle is available with a choice of mild-hybrid and full-hybrid powertrains.
Why does this story matter?
The Austral is Renault's first model to be built on the third-generation CMF-CD platform and serves as a replacement for the Kadjar. Its good looks, long list of features, and decent performance should attract a lot of customers in the overseas markets. If the car does make its way to India, the competition in the market will be raised significantly.
The car has LED headlights and roof rails
The Renault Austral has a sculpted bonnet, a chrome-studded grille, a wide air dam, and C-shaped matrix LED headlights. On the sides, it is flanked by roof rails, blacked-out B-pillars, ORVMs, and 17-20-inch designer alloy wheels. A shark-fin antenna and wrap-around taillamps grace the rear end. Dimensions-wise, the SUV is 4,510mm long, 1,830mm wide, and has a wheelbase of 2,670mm.
The four-wheeler gets a head-up display and a 360-degree-view camera
The Renault Austral has a cabin with Alcantara and Nappa leather upholstery, aluminum pedals and door sills, blue stitching, a 9.3-inch head-up display, and a multifunctional steering wheel. It houses a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.0-inch vertically-positioned touchscreen infotainment system. For passengers' safety, multiple airbags, a 360-degree-view camera, and driver assistance systems for meeting level 2 autonomy are offered.
Multiple powertrain options are offered
Renault Austral gets a 130hp, 1.2-liter, turbocharged, three-cylinder engine linked to a 48V Lithium-ion battery. A 1.3-liter, four-cylinder, petrol mill paired to a 12V Lithium-ion battery is also available. It makes 140hp in manual guise and 160hp using an automatic gearbox. Finally, there is a 1.2-liter full-hybrid powertrain that makes 160hp or 200hp. Multi-link suspension and rear-wheel-steering ensure better performance.
Renault Austral: Availability
No details pertaining to the official pricing and availability of the Renault Austral are currently available. Moreover, it is unclear whether this compact crossover will make its way to our shores in the near future.
