Chinese know-how to help Europe make a sub-$30,000 electric car: 2026 Renault Twingo to be a cheap EV to rival BYD Seagull and VW ID.1- report

Renault was expected to partner with Volkswagen to reboot its Twingo nameplate in the electric era, twinned with the German brand’s ID.1, the electric Up! replacement. 

Plans fell through last week, however, and now the French carmaker is looking to China for assistance in developing a sub-€20,000 (A$32,615) electric car, reports Automotive News Europe. 

"The development of the car will be done with a Chinese partner to improve our development lead time and costs," a Renault spokesperson told the industry news source.

The design, advanced engineering and eventual production will all occur in Europe, if not France, with the brand’s Ampere electric car division taking the lead. 

Renault Group CEO Luca De Meo had previously promised Twingo production at Renault’s Lyon factory with locally sourced batteries, however the report indicates the new electric city car might be built in the same Slovenia plant as the current model.

When the Twingo was announced it was said that Renault would take it from ‘concept freeze’ to production in two years mirroring Chinese carmakers’ capabilities. 

There’s no word yet on which company is associated with Renault, or even if it’s a rival company such as BYD, SAIC, GWM or whether it would be a consulting firm. 

It does not sound like a joint-venture style partnership (as Mazda’s new EZ-6 was), either. Instead, the Twingo will be based on Renault’s new low-cost CMF platform. 

The report mentions that while one of the sources says engineering in China isn’t notably more affordable than Europe or other nations, the speed at which electric car technology is evolving in China is ahead of the rest of the world.

Volume helps, too. China’s local market is huge and competitive. For companies to claw back profits, they are having to expand into other, less competitive markets. BYD is a great example locally, with its Atto 3, Seal and Dolphin revolutionising EV prices. 

Although not confirmed for Australia, BYD is going to launch its budget Seagull electric car in Europe next year and is targeting a sub-€20,000 (A$32,615) price tag, undercutting the existing Dolphin and MG4.

Another European/American conglomerate, Stellantis, recently announced its plan to bring Leapmotor’s affordable small cars to Europe and Australia. 

Renault is going ahead outside its Alliance partners (Nissan and Mitsubishi), with Nissan instead teaming up with Honda for electric car development targeting the United States. Mitsubishi has not yet announced plans to team up with another carmaker. 

Tough tariffs on Chinese-made cars and components have been imposed by the United States. Europe has so far played a more considered game, instead launching an investigation into ‘artificially low’ prices last year. 

Renault’s latest partnership will not be a factor in development of the Renault 5 and Renault 4. The new Twingo, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in April last year, is so far the first model to be conceived like this.