- Renault’s facelifted Austral SUV has been spied testing, revealing a new set of lights and revised grille and bumpers.
- The update follows a template laid down by cars like the Rafale coupe-SUV and will be replicated on the bigger Esapce – a stretched Austral.
- Reports suggest Renault will dump the Austral’s 1.3 TCE inline four for a more powerful 1.2 TCE triple when it updates the exterior design.
Renault’s Austral only arrived to replace the Kadjar in 2022, but since then the French firm has introduced a new corporate look, as seen on cars like the new Clio, the Austral’s coupe brother, the Rafale, and the recently facelifted Captur small SUV. Now it’s nearly time for the Austral to inherit the same face, and it’ll reportedly introduce some important powertrain changes at the same time.
Our spy photo team snapped the revised Austral testing on mountain roads in Europe, and although the updated SUV was wearing plenty of disguise, some of the big visual tweaks are clear to see. One of those is the boxy headlights and new DRLs that are angled less horizontally than the current DRLs. Though these pictures don’t show it, we’re expecting the DRLs to be boomerang-shaped like those on the Clio, Captur and Rafale.
Related: Here’s What We Know About Renault’s 2025 Austral
The hood is also new, and no longer features a central notch to clear the Renault badge on the grille, something still seen on the Clio. Instead, the Austral’s new hood has a simple, straight leading edge, and is separated from the grille by a plastic filler panel that helps reduce repair costs after a minor collision, just like on the Rafale. Those same changes are also bound to end up on the Espace, which is a stretched, three-row take on the Austral that arrived a year later.
It’s more difficult to make out the rear changes from these pictures, but you can bet the rear lights – which currently stretch almost right across the hatch – have been tweaked, too. Interior mods are likely to be limited to minor trim revisions, because the Austral already features Renault’s latest design of dashboard that combines a letterbox format digital gauge pack and vertically mounted central touchscreen.
Where Renault will make changes is under the hood. Although some markets, like the UK, only take the 197 hp (200 PS) 1.2 E-Tech full-hybrid, other countries also offer 128 hp (130 PS) 1.2 and 158 hp (160 PS) 1.3 mild hybrids, all driving the front wheels only. Rumours say the older 1.3 will be replaced by an uprated version of the 1.2. We’ll find out when the revised Austral makes its debut either this fall or early in 2025.
