► Renault Symbioz: a new compact SUV
► Loads of boot space
► A crossover powered by hybrid E-tech
Renault has lifted the wraps off its latest Qashqai killer – introducing the new and fully hybrid Renault Symbioz SUV.
Falling between the Captur and the Austral, the Symbioz represents the latest in a long lineage of spacious and practical Renault family vehicles, according to the manufacturer, that kicked off with the Renault 16 back in 1965.
With a big, sun-lit cabin and class-leading boot space, the Symbioz has been primed to make waves in the C-Segment market, forming part of the smaller end of Renault’s five-strong offensive.
We haven’t driven it yet, but our first impressions include that it appears well-built, has a plush interior and boasts an impressive amount of space in the back for bags and dogs. It’s also rumoured to be very competitively priced, so it could be a world-beater.
Read on to find out everything we know about the new Renault Symbioz.
How big is it?
At 4.41m long, it’s the second shortest in the Renault C-Segment family car lineup after the Megane (4.2m), sitting behind the Scenic (4.47m) in the middle of the range. Inside it feels as spacious as some of the bigger Renaults, a sense that’s no doubt enhanced by the Solarbay panoramic sunroof that can turn from transparent to translucent to opaque at the touch of a button.
What about the styling?
Eagle-eyed readers may spot a few styling cues shared with the facelifted Captur. In fact, the two models were developed in tandem with each other, the Symbioz having been conceived during Renault’s return to the drawing board for the Captur after the team identified a gap in the Renault range.
‘We have a hole in the middle (of the range). We wanted to introduce a new car that’s bigger than the Captur but cheaper than the Austral,’ design director Paula Fabregat told us.
So, the blueprints for the Captur and the Symbioz were outlined together. They would share a similarly stocky rear-end already familiar to the Captur, while both would receive a thickset and straight-bonneted front end with thin sleek headlights to establish a new design language for Renault.
The Symbioz is longer than the other car, but at 1.6m tall, it still retains an air of C-Segment compactness from the rest of its siblings, sharing a largely similar rear end with the Scenic, only a bit lower.
Talk to me about engines
The Symbioz will be launched with just one power unit on offer: the four-cylinder, 141bhp hybrid E-tech engine and 36 kw electric motor familiar to the Austral and the Arkana. This power unit gets going in all-electric when setting off – a mode Renault says can be prolonged for up to 80% of the time when driving in urban environments – while during motorway driving, the combustion engine drives the wheels directly.
Renault claim it should be capable of an mpg figure in the low sixties, aided by the Symbioz’s E-Save button also found in the New Clio and Captur. This button ensures the battery has a constant charge of at least 40% so the car may be able to traverse steeper rises without losing speed.
What’s it like inside?
Anyone who’s daily-d a Renault over the last few years will likely feel at home in the Symbioz right away. It feature’s the brand’s typical large, portrait style 10.4-inch infotainment display in the middle of the dashboard, alongside the car’s larger-than-most steering wheel.
As for the infotainment itself, the Symbioz includes an OpenR Link multimedia system with Google built-in – including Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Play – as standard across the range. There’s an air of restraint and composure to the way the cabin has been designed, but that’s expected for a car of this sort.
Renault has offered three trim levels for us Brits: techno, techno esprit Alpine, and iconic esprit Alpine. The top two of them feature their own upholstery layouts, along with accents from the racier sub-brand now common among top-end Renaults.
The cabin has clearly been designed with practicality as a high priority. The rear bench can slide by 16cm to maximise either rear passenger leg room or boot space depending on what owners need more of at any given time.
With the bench positioned all the way back, rear passengers will be able to enjoy 221mm more knee room while the boot has a capacity of 492 litres. With the bench all the way forward (sorry rear-bench riders) the boot capacity extends to 624 litres. With the rear seats folded, the capacity grows to 1582 litres.
The Symbioz has an electric rear tailgate with a hands-free opening system, but the real star of the show – as already mentioned – is undoubtedly the Solarbay opacifying glass sunroof, first found on the Rafale and Scenic E-Tech electric.
The system uses Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal that reacts to an electric current when passed through. The results are four sunroof opacity options: fully transparent, fully opaque, transparent front and opaque rear or vice versa. It’s a bit of a spectacle, and certainly helps to give the Symbioz a contemporary feel.
How much will it cost?
We haven’t been given an exact figure yet, but CAR understands it could start from under £30,000. Though we haven’t spent very long in the car, our first impressions suggest that would make it very good value for money. We’ll report back here once we know exactly how much the Symbioz will be.
Renault Symbioz: what’s in a name?
Don’t confuse the 2024 model with the large, grand-touring Symbioz concept car from 2017 (below). That car was fully electric and designed to plug into the home grid (hence being pictured inside a swanky modern house).
Over to Renault to explain the semantics of its new model name: ‘Symbioz borrows from the French word “symbiose”, derived from the ancient Greek “symbiosis”, meaning “living together”. This is a value deeply rooted in the DNA of Renault, with the brand committed to producing vehicles that completely fulfil the mantra of “cars for living”.
‘It is a word that is similar in many languages: “symbiosis” in English, “simbiose” in Spanish and “simbiosi” in Italian, making the name Symbioz easy to understand for a wide audience.’