This Is The Renault Symbioz And It’s Definitely A Car

Renault is actually two companies. There’s Fun Renault, which builds products with fantastically charming retro styling and singular personalities, like the brilliant Alpine A110 and the massively appealing new 5 E-Tech.

Then there’s Sensible Renault, which needs to make real money, and therefore builds a range of hybrid crossovers, because they’re the sort of cars that people actually buy these days. Meet the latest addition to Sensible Renault’s range: the Symbioz.

Yes, it has quite a silly name, but everything else about it is utterly straight-laced. It’s a C-segment crossover, meaning it’ll be up against things like the Volkswagen Tiguan, Nissan Qashqai and Ford Kuga, all of which have recently had either major facelifts or all-new generations launched.

It’ll launch with just one powertrain, a 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder augmented by an electric motor and driving the front wheels with a total of 143bhp. The gearbox is a six-speed automatic.

Despite being a hybrid, it is reasonably light, weighing in at “under 1500kg”. Full performance and efficiency specs haven’t been released, but less weight is always a good thing in both of these areas.

It’ll come in three trim levels: techno, techno esprit Alpine and iconic esprit Alpine (lack of capitalisation Renault’s, not ours). The latter two, in a nod to Renault’s sporty sub-brand from which they take their name, get some chunky 19-inch wheels.

Naturally, it’s a screen-fest inside, with a portrait-orientation 10.4-inch screen front and centre. The driver gets a 10.3-inch digital instrument readout too, and the whole thing is powered by Android and thus gets various Google features built in, as well as the ability to receive over-the-air updates.

More standard fare is the level 2 autonomous-capable cruise control, which will let you briefly cruise along motorways without any input, and a suite of systems designed to keep it in check with the EU’s GSR2 safety standards (and which most people will obviously turn off right away because they’re annoying).

No word yet on pricing or when the Symbioz will arrive in the UK, but expect that nice family down the road to have one on their drive by the end of the year.