Renault Rafale Debuts As Flagship Coupe SUV

French carmaker Renault has revealed the Rafale coupe SUV at the Paris Air Show. The Renault Rafale is the all-new flagship for the French marque.

The new Rafale will arrive in its home European market next year and will take on the likes of the Citroen C5X and the Audi Q5 Sportback among others in Europe.

The new Rafale coupe SUV from Renault is the first SUV from the carmaker that was designed from the drawing sheet by new Design Director Gilles Vidal. The design of the new coupe-SUV looks brilliant and features quite a few highlights that make you stop and stare.

The new Rafale features a brilliant 3D grille flanked on either side by sharp angular headlights. The LED DRLs can be found on the edges of the front bumper.

At the sides, the long sloping roof is the attention grabber as are the snazzy alloy wheels. The rear sports sharp LED lights, a spoiler on the roof and a boot lid special as well.

The interior makes use of quite a bit of soft-touch material. The trim features materials like cork and slate and features a fancy panoramic roof dubbed Solarbay that can lighten or darken sections of itself on command.

Also seen are a horizontal 12.3-inch driver's display and a portrait format 12-inch diagonal touchscreen. The gear shifter looks like it has been pulled off the fighter plane that also bears the same name.

The new Renault Rafale is 4.71 metres long, 1.86 metres wide, and 1.61 metres tall. The coupe SUV has a 2.74-metre long wheelbase, a 647-litre boot and weighs 1,653 kilogrammes.

The new Renault Rafale will sport the firm's E-Tech powertrain that combines a 1.2-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine and two electric motors. The total power output is capped at 197bhp. Post its launch in Europe next year, the Rafale will gain a 296bhp plug-in hybrid.

Thoughts About The Renault Rafale

The all-new Renault Rafale is the French firm's new flagship due to arrive in 2024. However, don't expect this Rafale to touch down in India as the firm continues to build up to the arrival of the new Duster and EVs for our market.