New hybrid family SUV alert! Could this Nissan Qashqai e-Power twinning Renault Austral be offered in Australia as a Hyundai Tucson and Toyota RAV4 hybrid alternative?

Renault has ripped the covers from the updated version of its Austral mid-size SUV in Europe.

This is the first major update for the family car since its 2022 introduction, and it ushers in a refreshed exterior design.

The Austral adopts design cues from other new Renault models like the Espace and Rafale. The bonnet, grille and bumper have been refined, with the latter featuring small embossed 3D diamonds around the central logo.

Renault says the Austral also has new light signatures for the front and rear. The company says when on, the tail-lights take the shape of “a square cut into seven pieces, inspired by Chinese tangram puzzles”. When turned off, they look like “floating ice cubes”.

Inside the Austral gains a new front seat design and some new tech, including a driver recognition system that uses cameras to detect who is behind the wheel and then adjust settings like mirrors, seats and more to suit. The user must set up a profile for this to work.

The tech offering inside also includes a twin screen setup combining a 12-inch digital instrument panel with a 9.0- or 12.3-inch multimedia screen, depending on the grade.

Renault says if you include the 9.3-inch head-up display, there’s 1000cm² of display area, which is roughly equivalent to three touch-screen tablets.

Austral comes with mild hybrid and full hybrid powertrains, the former a four-cylinder 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine paired with a starter-alternator and 12-volt lithium-ion battery mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

The full E-Tech hybrid powertrain includes a three-cylinder 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine developing 96kW/205Nm, and two electric motors for a total output of 149kW and fuel use of 4.7 litres/100km.

The Austral rides on Renault-Nissan’s CMF-CD platform, shared with the Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail and the Mitsubishi Outlander. However, it’s closer in dimensions to the Qashqai which sits at the larger end of the small SUV set.

The Austral would also likely straddle the small and medium SUV segments if it was to be offered in Australia, allowing it to compete with the Qashqai, as well as the Toyota Corolla Cross and RAV4, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson.

However, a Renault Australia spokesperson confirmed with CarsGuide the Austral is not available for our market.