Paris/Novo Mesto, 03 April (STA) - French car manufacturer Renault plans to start producing a more affordable version of its electric Twingo model at its assembly plant Revoz in Novo Mesto in 2026, Reuters reported on Tuesday quoting several well informed sources.
Ampere, Renault's electric vehicle and software spin-off, will start engineering work on the new Twingo this month, sources told Reuters, and the plan is to launch mass production in two years.
The new model is expected to be assembled at the Novo Mesto facility, where the current-generation electric Twingo ZE is produced.
According to unofficial information, the basic concept of the new Twingo was designed last week, and Ampere is now due to start selecting suppliers, developing prototypes and scaling production.
Renault has been working to speed up the development of new models. Its development time has been so far about five years on average.
"To speed up the Twingo launch, engineers will trim the number of parts by 20%, using more generic components and favouring parts available at suppliers, Gilles Le Borgne, head of technology at Renault, told French newspaper Les Echos last month," Reuters reported.
Renault declined to comment on the news about the new model.
European car manufacturers have been making efforts to produce more affordable versions of smaller electric cars in a bid to compete with their Chinese counterparts.
