VW and Renault won't be developing an affordable EV together after all

17 May 2024

Renault and Volkswagen have ended their talks about developing an affordable EV together, according to a new report from Reuters. This would essentialy have meant VW would have used the upcoming Renault Twingo as a base for a cheap EV of its own.

The German car maker allegedly walked away from the talks, which means it's now forced to develop its own affordable EV. Renault is launching the Twingo in 2026.

The talks started in the hope that joint development would mean cutting costs, but after several months of negotiations, the two companies "did not succeed in finding an agreement", according to an unnamed source.

Another source claims an agreement was very close actually, when VW chose to walk away anyway, deciding to develop a cheap competitor to the Twingo on its own. An official decision will apparently be announced within weeks, as Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaefer has previously said he wants to launch a lower-priced EV by 2027.

While it will continue developing the Twingo on its own, Renault remains open to other partners, but this is undoubtedly a blow to CEO Luca de Meo's hopes for greater cooperation between European carmakers in order to stave off the always-around-the-corner cheap Chinese EV invasion.