Renault to develop affordable electric Twingos with Chinese partner

Renault said it would link up with a Chinese engineering company to develop future Twingo cars priced below €20,000 (about R407,192) as European carmakers target smaller and cheaper electric vehicles to compete with Chinese peers.

"Twingo's development is moving forward quickly as we plan to make the development in two years," said a spokesperson for Renault's Ampere electric vehicles division.

"The development of the car will be done with a Chinese engineering partner to improve our development lead time and costs. The project is conducted by Ampere. The styling and advanced engineering project are made in France, and production will be in Europe, as planned," said the spokesperson.

Earlier this month, Renault and German peer Volkswagen ended talks to jointly develop an affordable electric version of the Twingo.

Renault said its decision to choose a Chinese partner for the sub-€20,000 version of its Twingo came independently of that earlier decision concerning Volkswagen.

European carmakers are aiming to produce smaller electric vehicles that sell below €20,000 to help them compete with Chinese brands such as BYD.