It will reportedly be called Grand Austral or Austral Espace
The Renault Australia made its debut in 2022 as a replacement for the Kadjar. Now, the brand is working on an even larger version with a third row of seats. The new model is reportedly called either the Grand Austral or Austral Espace.
This prototype has heavy camouflage all over the body, but we can see some details from the photos published by Motor1.com. The headlights look identical to those of the Austral. There are similarities in the shape of the grille and lower mask. It's not visible enough to see if Renault has made any design changes to the nose.
In profile, you can see how much longer this model is than the standard Austral. The rear overhang is longer to create extra space in the cabin. The rear roof section also has a more vertical appearance.
At the back, it looks like this larger Austral shares the existing model's rear lights in an arm-shaped design. Both have identical bumpers and don't hide the exhaust tips.
Although we don't have photos of the interior, the similarities in styling on the exterior suggest that the two models may share styling cues in the cabin. That would mean a digital instrument panel and a portrait-oriented entertainment screen with physical buttons at the bottom.
The larger Austral reportedly shares the same engines as the existing model. That would mean there's a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder mild hybrid-assisted engine that produces 130bhp (97kW). There's also a mildly hybrid 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine producing 140bhp (104kW) with a six-speed manual gearbox or 160bhp (119kW) with the automatic transmission. The E-Tech Hybrid uses a 1.2-liter engine that delivers either 160 hp (119 kW) or 200 hp (149 kW).
Renault has traditionally used the Espace name for its large all-rounders. However, crossovers are increasingly common for moving people. So the company could reuse the moniker for this three-row model.
It's not clear when Renault will introduce this larger version of the Austral, however it's expected within the 2023.
