For the new year Renault has just mildly updated their renowned people carrier, the Espace. The car gets subtle styling revisions, greater levels of equipment and lower pricing, from £24,495 and savings of up to £3,005 compared to the model it replaces. The 2011 Espace comes with a new Pearl Blue body colour and gloss black exterior trim details, along with redesigned headlights, 17-inch Eptius and Novadis alloy wheels,  and new LEDs, as they’re fashionable these days.

The car’s range of powertrains are also revised for lower CO2 emissions to cope with Euro 5 standards. You get a two-litre dCi diesel with two levels of output dCi 150 and dCi 175, the latter mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The combined cycle CO₂ emissions of the core dCi 150 engine has been reduced by 18g/km from 188g/km to 170g/km.

As for the equipments, the Dynamique TomTom edition gets features like sport-style upholstery featuring extra side support and exclusive Teflon® protection, the fully-integrated Carminat TomTom® Live navigation, as well as a new gloss black interior trim.

Other notable options includes an opening tailgate window for £320, bi-xenon directional headlights at £650, and the perfect accompaniment for children, a DVD system with two 16.9” screens integrated into the rear of the front headrests for £1,500. Lastly, thanks to a vast surface area of 2.46 square metres, the electric panoramic glass sunroof at £1,300, provides an exceptionally bright cabin and impressive view out for all passengers.

An optional, lavish Initiale Lux Pack is also available for £3,500 on the top-of-the-range Grand Espace dCi 175 Auto FAP. Among its many items are multi-functional TunePoint for portable music players, Carminat TomTom Western Europe mapping, metallic paint, front parking sensors and full leather upholstery. Rounding off its array of features and, in keeping with the opulent ambience, four rear seats with armrests are fitted in place of five, for even greater levels of space.

Full pricing for the Espace and Grand Espace 2011 range is given below. The cost to upgrade from Espace to Grand Espace is £1,500.