Launched in 1965, the Renault 16 was designed to stand apart from the competition, premiering a new body style with hatchback access to the boot. More versatile than any of its contemporaries, Renault 16 included a bench seat with a ‘holiday travel’ position. It met the needs of families looking for a car that suited their lifestyles, while keeping pace with rapid social change.
Since then, Renault has continued to innovate with family cars that move with the times. This was true in the 1980s with Espace, a car that started a revolution with its groundbreaking one-box design and modular layout. In the 1990s, Renault did it again with Scénic, the first compact MPV. Designed to resemble a cocoon, Scénic featured an interior dedicated to passenger well-being.
Symbioz shares this same DNA. Able to adapt its boot and passenger compartment to family needs, with useful technologies and compact dimensions that are also ideal for city driving, it joins a long line of versatile models that reflect our changing needs. Showcasing Renault’s new design language, Symbioz follows on from the recent Scenic E-Tech electric and is the latest all new model in Renault’s product offensive.
Combining the best of Renault C-segment vehicles in modular design, connectivity and efficiency, packed with expertise and intelligence, Symbioz is able to meet the highest standards of onboard comfort on both short and long journeys. It is consequently aimed at a broad customer base. First and foremost, it is a car for families looking for space and efficiency with modular, contemporary design. It is also built for corporate fleet owners, looking for a level of electrification while keeping TCO on a tight rein. For both categories of customer, Symbioz delivers an uncompromising win-win.
Positioned below Austral, Symbioz gives Renault stronger entry-level presence in the C-segment. Just 4.41m long, this new model completes the E-Tech ‘hybrid’ range already comprising Arkana (4.57m) and Austral (4.51m), while expanding the E-Tech ‘electric’ range with Megane and Scenic E-Tech electric. It confirms the coherence of Renault’s strategy, to address a full range of user requirements by building a dual range with dedicated platforms.
Symbioz is packed with the best of Renault technologies. It features the OpenR Link multimedia system with Google built-in, as well as the Solarbay opacifying glass sunroof and up to 24 new-generation driving aids for optimised safety and driving comfort.
With boot capacity of up to 624 litres – exceptional in a car of this size – and a modular layout with a sliding bench seat that folds to create a flat floor, Symbioz is on a par with the best in its class. At the same time, it remains compact and agile. Designed for both city traffic and family life, Symbioz is ideally versatile.
A new family car that is both eco-friendly and economical to run, Symbioz weighs in at under 1,500 kg. Featuring the E-Tech hybrid 145 powertrain, it stands with the best for fuel consumption and emissions with exclusive, ultra-efficient technology that has been continuously improved since its launch in 2020.
After Arkana, Megane E-Tech electric, Austral and Scenic E-Tech electric, Symbioz completes the range of compact Renault vehicles, as the last vehicle in the Renaulution offensive on the C segment.
Built on the extended version of the CMF-B platform, Symbioz is a vehicle of well-balanced proportions. Even the rear overhang, with its promise of boot space, adds to the flow of the overall design. The rear end complements the modern, assertive prow, with its high, horizontal bonnet and vertical lines.
Complementing its design, Symbioz features large 19-inch wheels on techno esprit Alpine and iconic esprit Alpine. The sharply drawn lines create a dynamic graphic effect, making it look as if the wheel is turning, even when the vehicle is stationary.
The rear end is sculpted, generous and dynamic, catching the light continuously. The lights make the car look wider, giving it a strong visual presence while allowing it to slip through narrow passageways. The vertical tailgate holds out a promise of generous interior space.
Symbioz is available in a range of seven colours, including the new vibrant shade of Mercury Blue. The iconic Flame Red is offered free of charge in the configurator, which also includes five other colours: Arctic White, Oyster Grey, Diamond Black, Ceramic Grey, and Iron Blue.
Without sacrificing its compact exterior dimensions, Symbioz offers generous interior space, combining a modular layout with a sliding bench seat and a wide range of features contributing to onboard comfort, such as the Solarbay opacifying glass sunroof and power tailgate. A multi-skilled, multifunctional car, it is also a ‘living area’ for the whole family.
More compact than most C-segment vehicles (4.41m long and 1.79m wide), Symbioz is built to deliver an agile performance with no trade-off on interior space or load capacity, this being one of its key strong points. Symbioz is the ideal blend of family versatility and urban agility.
The rear bench is designed to slide over 16 cm, creating knee room of 221 mm for passengers at the rear, while also maintaining a boot capacity of 492 litres in this configuration. When the rear seats are not occupied by adults, the bench seat slides forward to increase boot capacity to 624 litres, and up to 1,582 litres when the rear seats are fully folded (60:40). The boot has no lip, making it easy to access the flat floor and load even the bulkiest items. This is a particularly welcome configuration for a family model.
Symbioz also boasts 24.7 litres of storage space inside the cabin, including 7 litres in the glovebox alone.
For charging and connectivity, two USB-C sockets are provided at the front, with two more at the rear. All versions – techno, techno esprit Alpine and iconic esprit Alpine – also include an wireless phone charger as standard.
Premiered on Rafale and Scenic E-Tech electric, the Solarbay opacifying glass sunroof uses ‘AmpliSky’ technology to do away with the need for a blind. The completely active system darkens the sunroof in segments on demand, using PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal) technology, where the molecular structure reacts to an electric current. Maximum protection can be provided immediately, with a ‘wow’ effect created by each segment of the sunroof darkening in turn. This smart glass sunroof can even be controlled by a switch or by voice command using Google Assistant.
The driver and passengers can choose between four sunroof positions: fully transparent, fully opaque, transparent front and opaque rear, or vice versa. The Solarbay opacifying glass sunroof also limits the greenhouse effect in the passenger compartment to maintain onboard thermal comfort in both summer and winter more effectively than a mechanical blind. Further, the sunroof dims automatically when the driver turns off the ignition and leaves the vehicle. When the vehicle is restarted, Solarbay returns to its most recent setting.
The feeling of space and light is further amplified by the large, glazed area and increased headroom. The unique design does away with the need for a mechanical or electric blind and increases headroom by 30 mm. This is important for passenger comfort and also for limiting vehicle height in order to improve efficiency.
Renault Symbioz features the E-Tech hybrid 145 powertrain. Highly efficient and therefore economical to run, it delivers the comfort and silence of electric driving in town, without the need for charging.
Order books open from July 2024
