The production-ready Symbioz is a far cry from what earlier concepts had promoted, but sits well within the wider family line-up.
The new Renault Symbioz is now officially available and wraps up an extensive period of development including multiple concepts and pre-production forms. We recently had some teasers in February this year but it is now officially open for orders.
While the basic mantra of “cars for living” might still be in play, it is a very different outcome to the hyper-futuristic autonomous car that becomes part of the home – literally.
As the December 2017 press release read: “Imagine yourself in 2023, comfortably sitting in a living-room style cabin, enjoying the ride without paying attention to the driving.” A reflection of the bullish views around autonomous driving back then, perhaps.
The earlier Symbioz concepts were very much that, of course, and have since been shaped and into a versatile family crossover. What started as a copper-coloured coupe with autonomous highway driving has evolved into a direct competitor to the Nissan Qashqai.
It does feel distinctly ‘Renault’ in its appearance and could be viewed as a bulked up Captur. It is also in line with the larger members of the family, namely the recently reborn Scenic people carrier-cum-SUV (also hyped up with a futuristic concept).
The Symbioz is remarkably similar to the Austral, too, another family crossover available with a full-hybrid powertrain. The Symbioz has narrower headlights, “folded paper” body surfacing and a distinctive kink in the C-pillar. The Austral is ever so slightly bigger at 4,510mm long vs the Symbioz (4,410mm) and 1,843mm wide (1,790mm for the Symbioz).
The interior sports a mix of materials including wide-mesh upholstery fabric with part of the diamond logo embossed on the seats. The upper instrument panel has a brushed aluminium finish while the lower is finished in a fine-grain TEP material with visible top-stitching. An upright, almost monolithic, touchscreen perches on the dash but it is supported by chunky metal buttons below.
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