● Hybrid powertrain confirmed● New car set for spring reveal
Richard Ingram Richard_Ingram@autovia.co.uk@rsp_ingram
WE told you at the start of this year (Issue 1,812) that Renault was planning to add a further SUV to its line-up to sit between the Captur and Austral – and now we’ve had our first glimpse of the car, and official confirmation of its name: Symbioz.
Designed as a C-segment competitor to cars such as the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Niro, the Symbioz is set to be revealed this spring, and will be offered with a hybrid powertrain from launch.
The name is from the ancient Greek word ‘symbiosis’, which means ‘living together’. Renault’s head of naming strategy Sylvia Dos Santos wanted a badge with “human significance”, claiming Symbioz expresses the “bond between a family and their car”.
At 4.41 metres long, the Symbioz is only 15mm shorter than the Qashqai. The teaser image reveals a long roofline, and hints that the design will borrow from the latest Renault Scenic, including its vertical LED strakes, slim headlights and angular front.
The single picture of the interior highlights the single-piece glass roof – also similar to the Scenic EV’s – that will use the same ‘Solarbay’ adjustable-opacity tech.
The rest of the cabin design, and the infotainment, appears to be taken from the Captur and Clio. That suggests the Symbioz is based on the smaller CMF-B platform, instead of the CMF-C/D that underpins the Austral. Renault has also confirmed that the car will be offered with the E-Tech hybrid 145 engine used in the Clio and Captur.
We’ve no information on boot or cabin dimensions, but in an unusual move, Renault has already promised that the Symbioz will weigh “under 1,500kg” – a fact aimed, perhaps, at Paris’s recent ruling on parking fees for cars weighing more than 1,600kg.
The Symbioz could be revealed alongside a facelifted Captur, but exact dates have yet to be confirmed. Renault used the Symbioz name on an all-electric concept in 2017. That model was a sleeker, executive car, f
