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VW among the manufacturers with whom Renault is discussing – sources
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Renault wants a quick decision for its 20,000 euro Twingo scheduled for 2026-sces
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Ongoing discussions with other manufacturers
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A Renault-VW partnership would be a first – sources
(Updated with details)
by Gilles Guillaume and Christina Amann
Renault RENA.PA hopes to decide by the start of next year which carmaker it will partner with for its new electric Twingo, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, perhaps Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE with which the diamond group discusses the project.
Three sources said that Renault was in discussions with the German giant to share this architecture of small electric car for less than 20,000 euros unveiled in mid-November, and two of them specified that Renault was also discussing with other potential partners.
One of the sources added that the aim was to reach a decision by the end of this year.
Volkswagen declined to comment. Renault confirmed it is in discussions with several automakers about a potential partnership, but declined to comment on their identity or a timetable.
During the investor day of its future electric entity Ampère, Renault presented “Legend”, a concept car foreshadowing a new electric Twingo which could be produced in Slovenia, according to sources.
The objective of this very affordable electric car is to help the democratization of this technology, explained Renault financial director Thierry Piéton, but also to counter the ambitions of Chinese brands on the European market.
Last March, Volkswagen detailed a project to develop an electric vehicle costing 25,000 euros, the launch of which should take place by 2025. The German group specified at the time that it was also working on a model with 20,000 euros, without further details.
The Handelsblatt newspaper reported Friday that Volkswagen was
in discussion
with Renault regarding cooperation on a car that could be sold at the latter price.
The entire industry is actively looking for ways to reduce costs to produce cheaper electric vehicles. The average sales price of these models in Europe exceeded 65,000 euros in the first half of the year, according to the automotive research company JATO Dynamics, compared to just over 31,000 euros in China.
A partnership between Renault and Volkswagen would be a first for both groups, two industry sources said. Renault, whose general director Luca de Meo spent part of his career at VW before joining the French automobile group, has already had partnerships with Fiat and Opel in vans, or with Mercedes on the Twingo-Smart project. old generation.
These industrial alliances, common to reduce development and manufacturing costs, are also gaining ground in the electric vehicle segment to face the challenge of phasing out thermal engines. VW is already a partner of Ford also on this technology.
(With Victoria Waldersee in Frankfurt and Nick Carey in London, editing by Tangi Salaün and Kate Entringer)