European manufacturers are aware of the need to present an electric car that is affordable for “home” wallets. Admitting that it does not want to waste time, Renault confirmed that it is in negotiations with Volkswagen for the development of a battery-electric mini car.
In November, Renault said it would launch an all-electric Twingo minicar as early as 2026 with a price tag of less than 20,000 euros. At the time, the company revealed that it was in negotiations with several manufacturers, with a view to establishing partnerships.
This week at the Geneva Motor Show, Renault CEO Luca de Meo revealed that Renault and Volkswagen are in “initial negotiations” for a potential partnership.
According to Luca de Meo, Renault is open “to anyone who wants to join”. However, he has “no time to waste” and will not postpone this step.
I have production capacity. I have the platform. I know how to do it.
In order to reduce costs, the new electric Twingo should be based on a smaller version of the AmpR Small architecture – the one that underpins the new Renault 5 – and should be equipped with cheaper batteries, such as lithium iron phosphate (LFP). ).
This partnership could be fruitful, especially for Volkswagen, which is falling behind in terms of its catalog of small and affordable electric cars. In fact, the brand's CEO, Thomas Schäfer, said that he is open to partnerships that seek to reduce the retail price of a small electric car.
Renault intends to reduce the cost of the new electric Twingo by up to 40%, compared to the current generation of electric cars, reducing production times, accelerating the market launch and investing in cheaper batteries.
Since, for Luca de Meo, “no one is capable of producing small cars profitably”, the ideal would be to create a European front that can handle this task.
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Tags: Renault confirms talks Volkswagen small electric vehicle
