Renault is giving the hybrid-engined Austral SUV a new look. That's because the handsome Rafale coupe-SUV has since been launched alongside the Austral, and this restyle brings the Austral into line with its raffish sibling.
So, what's new then?
Mostly this is about the aesthetics, so the Renault Austral gets a new grille and light arrangement at the front, giving it a deeper, more assertive looking grille and slightly slimmer, more angular lights. The look isn't quite identical to the Rafale's, but you can see more clearly now that the two cars share an ancestry. Incidentally, that grille is also now made up of interlinked Renault diamonds.
The lights also have a new LED signature, which consists of a square cut into seven pieces, inspired by Chinese tangram puzzles. When turned off, they're meant to resemble floating ice cubes.
There has also been some subtle restyling around the tailgate and the brake lights, and there are two new exterior colour options - Naxos Blue and matte Satin Pearl White. Look closely and you'll spot two new gloss-black exterior panels which help to protect the rear wheelarches from stone chips.
What about the inside?
The cabin of the Renault Austral hasn't changed all that much - to be honest, it didn't really need to. However, the front seats have been tweaked a little so that they provide more support when cornering, and there are new upholstery options such as the 98 per cent recycled 'Egée' fabric available with the Techno spec.
Everything else is pretty much the same: an adjustable rear seat that slides as well as splits and folds, a 527-litre boot, a digital dash with a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel and a 12-inch multimedia screen featuring Google-based software, plus an optional head-up display.
Any mechanical changes?
Not on the engine front; the Austral continues to use the 1.2-litre hybrid system, along with Renault's complex automatic gearbox. Renault quotes 4.7 litres per 100km for fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions as low as 106g/km.
There have been some subtle changes to have the Austral drives, though: there are new, slightly larger, tyres as standard, and new suspension dampers too. There is also Renault's handy 'My Safety' button which lets you create a customised setup for all of the active electronic safety systems, which you can activate with one button.