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Renault Austral 2022.

Renault Austral crossover, which will replace the Kadjar.

A relative of the latter Nissan Qashqai, the parkcar will only be available as a «soft» and a full hybrid — at least in Europe.

This crossover Renault has already repeatedly caught spies — it was thought that the company is testing the Kadjar of the next generation.

But a month ago, the SUV was officially announced and it turned out that the model was named Austral.

The name is not tied to Australia: it derives from Latin «australis», that is «southern», and by idea of marketers, should cause in imagination «emotions and heat of southern hemisphere».

It will replace Kadjar that failed to become successful unlike its brother — the previous Nissan Qashqai.

Now Renault has distributed official photos of the pre-production SUV, though it has not yet lost its disguise. In addition, the first details about the vehicles have appeared.

We shall remind, even though the name of the crossover is new, but, as well as Kadjar, it is the relative of Nissan Qashqai, only the third generation, that is, both are based on updated platform CMF-C/D.

Thus, Austral is larger than its forerunner and the fresh Nissan: its length makes 4,51 meters (the indicator of the «third» Qashqai is 4,42 m, Kadjar — 4,49 m).

Europeans will be offered the novelty Renault only with hybrid units.

There will be two «soft» hybrids — with 1.3 TCe turbo engine and 12-volt starter generator and 1.2 TCe turbo engine and 48-volt starter generator. The top-end Austral is a full E-Tech hybrid with 200 hp.

As for design, the Parkette gets narrow and tricky diode optics (branded «offshoots» taped with a film), plus a new brand emblem (first it was tried on a cross-hatch Megane E-Tech).

And in spy shots, a radiator grille with vertical wedges was also visible.

Interior has not been cleared yet, however, and it is clear that a virtual dashboard and multimedia system with a large display will be installed inside.

Renault also noted that the Austral has entered the final stage of testing: about a hundred cars will run a total of 2 million kilometers, with 600,000 km — on ordinary roads in France, Spain, Germany and Romania.

The premiere of the new car should be in spring 2022.

And later, according to unofficial data, two related Austral crossovers will be added: allegedly in 2023, three-row SUV will debut, in 2024 — coupe-shaped.

But it is not known yet whether they will have analogues under the Nissan brand.

On the Russian market, the Renault Kadjar has not been introduced, and we probably will not see the new Austral either.