The key is speed. This is the phrase that perhaps the new CEO of the Renault group, François Provost, repeats the most since he took over the leadership of the French company this summer following the farewell of Luca de Meo, who left for the luxury sector. The French company’s goal is to catch up with China as soon as possible in its ability to develop vehicles from scratch in record time and thus the new Twingo was born: its cheapest electric vehicle, which starts at less than 20,000 euros, and which the car company developed and launched on the market in just two years. Its delivery to customers will begin in early 2026.
Renault thus manages to put an electric car on sale for 20,000 euros even before Volkswagen, one of its main competitors, manages to market its electric cars which will start from 25,000 euros. These will go on the market next year and they will be produced in Spain: These are Cupra Raval, Skoda Epiq, Volkswagen ID. Polo and ID. Through. These cars will be produced at the plants in Martorell (Barcelona) and Landaben (Navarre), while the Twingo will be produced at the Slovenian plant in Novo Mesto. Just over a year ago, Volkswagen and Renault discussed so that the German company could benefit from the Twingo project and have its own car for less than 20,000 euros, but the negotiations stalled and everyone went their own way.
“To face the challenge of offering a small electric car for less than 20,000 euros without giving up production in Europe, our path to decarbonisation and value for the customer, we returned to the Twingo spirit, which placed everyday life, mischief and ingenuity at the center of the design,” said the CEO of the French brand, Fabrice Cambolive. “Its new 100% electric generation remains faithful to what matters most to Renault: understanding the real needs of European motorists, their uses, their expectations of accessibility, emotion and responsibility. Personally, what I like about the electric Twingo E-Tech is that it manages to be both a tribute to its origins and a leap into the future”, added the manager.
This vehicle also adds a new model to the A segment, the smallest on the market, in which there are not many competitors, since European car manufacturers prefer larger segments and, therefore, those that offer better profit margins. This, for example, pushed the Chinese company Leapmotor to see a market opportunity and launch its small T03 in Europe, the first car it started operating in the Old Continent, as indicated by the brand’s CEO, Tianshu Xin, in a press meeting at the Munich Motor Show in September. Today, according to Renault calculations, this segment represents around 5% of the European market.
“Renault has decided to see this as a great opportunity for growth and to accept this challenge. The new generation of the Twingo is thus consolidated as a true turning point“, reads a note from the company.
