Renault will lift the veil on the new Espace on March 28 but it continues to test the SUV and our spy photographers recently snapped a prototype wrapped in camouflage.
The next-generation Espace will be important for the French brand as it will morph from a minivan into a hybrid SUV and sit at the top of Renault’s range. It will be heavily based on the smaller Austral and as such, have some design commonalities.
This particular prototype was spied in the snowy conditions of Sweden and while the camouflage does hide some key elements of its design, it can’t hide the overall shape of the SUV. It appears likely that the front fascia of the new Espace will be very similar to the Megane E-Tech and the Austral, complete with the same lobster claw-shaped LED headlights and a relatively modest grille. It will be a similar story at the rear where Renault has fitted a familiar pair of taillights.
More: This Is What The 2024 Renault Espace Will Look Like And Everything Else We Know
The differences between the new Espace and its predecessor, as well as current Renault SUVs, is evidenced with its overhauled dimensions. The new model will be 4.72 m (185.8 inches) long, meaning it is 21 cm (8.3 inches) longer than the Austral but some 14 cm (5.5 inches) shorter than the outgoing Espace.
The added size over the Austral will allow Renault to offer the sixth-generation Espace as a three-row, 7-seater, in addition to the standard two-row, 5-seat version.
It’s not just the exterior design of the Espace that will be similar to the smaller Austral. A number of important interior components will be carried over, including the OpenR cockpit that includes a 12-inch infotainment display, a 12.3-ich digital instrument cluster, and a 9.3-inch head-up display.
