The new Symbioz SUV is now part of Renault’s global lineup. The vehicle, which is designed for big families and practicality, has a petrol-hybrid powertrain and sits between the smaller Captur SUV and the larger Austral SUV in the French company’s combustion-engined lineup, making it a direct competitor to the Nissan Qashqai SUV. Although it was developed along with the Captur, the Symbioz is meant to target a different market need.
Symbioz measurements are 1,797 x 1,575 x 4,413 mm. In contrast, the bigger Austral is 4,510mm long, whilst the Captur is 4,227mm long. The nearly similar front design, with only part of the pattern included in the grille, demonstrates the shared development with the Captur.
The dashboard in the cabin is very similar to that of the Captur and has a 10.4-inch touchscreen that is oriented in portrait mode and runs Renault’s OpenR Link infotainment system, which is powered by Google.
With the ability to slide the rear seats 160 mm back, the SUV can provide up to 221 mm of knee space and increase its boot capacity from 492 litres to an amazing 624 litres, which increases to 1,582 litres when the 60:40 split seats are folded down.
Renault’s E-Tech Full Hybrid 145 system, which combines a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, a multimodal automatic gearbox, two electric motors and a 1.2kWh battery, will be the only available powertrain option at launch.
