New Renault Twingo for 2026: retro on the outside, electric on the inside

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Are automakers’ investor conferences boring? Sometimes it’s just about budgets, jobs, financial strategies, and laws and regulations. But things were different at the Renault and Ampere investor conference. Because Renault CEO Luca de Meo (56) suddenly invented an electric car out of a hat with a budget price of less than 20,000 euros. The project is currently called Legend, but anyone who looks at the work will immediately see: This will be a new Twingo. Retro look of the iconic first Renault Twingo from 1993.

Of course, Renault’s future strategy was more important in the beginning. The first information about this was already available at the IAA in Munich (D) in September: electric for Europe, internal combustion engines for the rest of the world. Romanian subsidiary Dacia must be more than cheap; Renault is working on volume segments such as small and compact cars. Today’s sports subsidiary Alpine will transform into a luxury brand with seven all-electric models. And a new daughter named Ampere is formed.

Ampere will become an innovation department

The starting signal was given on 15 November. So what is Ampere? Groupe Renault outsources research, development and production related to electromobility and digital technologies to this new subsidiary. In other words: Ampere develops electric motors, batteries, digital services, applications and operating software for cars for the group and produces the components in its own factories.

The new girl has her own logo. But the Renault diamond will still feature in the upcoming Stromer innovations. Ampere currently has approximately 11,000 employees, 35 percent of whom are engineers. If economic conditions are suitable, the IPO should take place as early as 2024.

Seven electric cars by 2031

Thanks to Ampere, Renault wants to have seven electric models in its range by 2031: The first of these is the Megane E-Tech Electric, launched in 2021, followed shortly by the larger Scenic E-Tech Electric on the same platform. The small electric Renault 5, based on the R5 produced in 1972, will be launched in 2024, followed a year later by the SUV-like Renault 4 with design details from the R4 produced in 1961. Two more models are on the way and will be based on one model. new platform.

The surprise innovation called Legend will be seventh in the league in 2026, but its name will probably be Twingo. Because in terms of design, the new electric car, whose price is probably under 20,000 euros, is exactly the same as the first generation: semicircular headlights at the front, spherical silhouette, upright rear. The only difference: There will now be five doors instead of three. In terms of dimensions, the new one is likely to be even higher than the tiny 3.43-meter model from 1993. The original Twingo’s three air vents turn into battery charge indicators in the new version.

City car with record fuel consumption?

Technically, according to Renault, this vehicle should be a “no-compromise city car” with a consumption of less than 10 kilowatt hours (kWh) per 100 kilometers; This would be a consumption record under today’s conditions. However, Renault is not yet releasing further data about the vehicle. Thanks to a switch to a circular economy for high amounts of recycled materials and raw materials such as batteries, the five-seater is expected to produce 75 percent less CO₂ over its entire life cycle than the current average internal combustion car. engine.

What about the current Twingo? The technology twin created by the collaboration, the Smart Forfour, will cease production in 2021, and the current Smart Fortwo will likewise expire next year in mid-2024. Smart has long repositioned itself as a subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely and produces its new models independently of Renault. Renault’s new subsidiary Power will work with Geely to further develop internal combustion engine technology in the future.

Source: Blick