Renault will this month begin work on designing a cheaper version of the compact electric Twingo, two sources told Reuters, with production of the vehicle expected within two years as the company seeks to fend off intense competition from Chinese rivals.
Chinese automakers, the world’s largest producers of electric vehicles, are rapidly making inroads into the European market, putting pressure on companies in the region to reduce prices and costs and speed up the development of new models.
Chinese electric vehicle makers have cut the development time of new models to an average of 2.5 years, about half the time taken by traditional automakers.
The concept of the new electric Twingo, in which the shape of the vehicle is validated and defined, took place last week, the two informed sources said.
Ampere, Renault’s electric vehicle division, will now start choosing suppliers and creating prototypes, one of the sources added.
Renault has worked to reduce development times compared to the five-year average of traditional car manufacturers. The company developed the Megane electric car in four years and the R5, which will go on sale in 2024, in three years.
To speed up the launch of the new electric Twingo, engineers will reduce the number of components by 20%, using more generic components and favoring those available from suppliers, Gilles Le Borgne, Renault’s head of technology, told French newspaper Les this month. Echoes. past.
A third source, also aware of Renault’s plans to mass produce the new Twingo in 2026, said the model will be assembled in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, where the current Twingo ZE is produced. Renault declined to comment.
Over the past 30 years, more than 4 million Twingos have been sold, including combustion engine versions.
Source: Terra
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