Renault and Nissan have announced the latest developments in their long-standing alliance that also includes Mitsubishi.
A newly signed agreement between the two major manufacturers confirms what is described as “a global framework” for their future programmes together, and pertinently also reveals plans for a new Nissan small electric car, based on the Renault Twingo.
The fourth-generation Twingo (pictured above is concept form) is set to go on sale in left-hand-drive markets in 2026 but so far Renault has not confirmed whether it will be produced in right-hand drive form. The first generation sold between 1993 and 2006 was only produced in LHD but the second and third generations were both made available to UK buyers.
The existence of a second model using basically the same architecture would make a right-hand-drive version of the Twingo a more economically viable proposition, though neither manufacturer has given any clues yet as to whether this will happen.
The new Twingo is like its sister vehicle the Renault 5 heavily retro-influenced, with styling recalling the original first-generation car. Both will use the same electric platform, as will the next Nissan Micra which is set to appear before the end of 2025 as another element of the long-standing alliance agreement.
Nissan is currently giving no details of its new small car, merely describing it as “a derivative of Twingo, designed by Nissan.” It is expected to appear quite quickly, Nissan saying that it will “confirm its know-how and road-map for reducing development costs and time.”
The developments come in the wake of more challenging times for Nissan in recent years and announcing the new framework, Renault Group CEO Luca de Leo said that Renault Group has a strong interest in seeing Nissan turnaround its performance as quickly as possible.
“This Framework Agreement, beneficial for both parties, is the proof of the agile and efficient mindset of the new Alliance – it also confirms the attractiveness of our products with Twingo as well as our ambition to grow our business on international markets,” de Mao added.
