New model will help Japanese firm grow its small EV line-up; part of wider restructure between Alliance partners
Nissan has confirmed that it will introduce a new small electric city car based on the Renault Twingo in 2026 – bolstering hopes that the two EVs will be produced in right-hand drive for the UK market.
The deal for the new model comes as part of a wider reorganisation of some of the key aspects of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.Â
The Twingo is due to arrive in LHD markets next year, priced from less than €20,000 (£17,000).
It's based on Renault’s Ampr Small EV platform (referred to by Nissan as CMF-BEV), which is also used by the larger Renault 5.
Under the Alliance agreement, Renault is already set to produce a new electric Nissan Micra, based on the 5 and due in 2026, for the Japanese firm.
Nissan's Twingo sibling will sit underneath the Micra and larger Leaf and Juke EVs, both of which will be built at Sunderland, in the brand's future European electric line-up.
No further details of the city car have been released, although Nissan said that it would design the car and that it fitted its “roadmap for reducing development costs and timeâ€.
Reducing the time taken to bring new vehicles to market is a key part of Nissan's revival plan, following its recent financial woes and failed merger with Honda.
Renault boss Luca de Meo has previously said that the prospects of the Twingo being converted for RHDÂ markets could be dependent on a deal with Nissan to produce a sibling model, boosting the economies of scale.
Under the existing Alliance agreement, Renault has taken the lead on developing the Ampr Small/CMF-BEV platform while Nissan has headed development of the Ampr Medium/CMF-EV platform for larger models.
More broadly, the Renault Group and Nissan have agreed to a new Alliance Agreement, in which the "lock-up undertaking"Â of the cross-shareholding has been reduced from 15% to 10%.Â
Meanwhile, Nissan has been released from its commitment to invest in Ampere, the Renault Group’s EV development firm.
Furthermore, the Renault Group is set to acquire the 51% of the pair's Indian joint venture, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd, that's currently held by Nissan.
That move is part of Renault’s international growth plan to invest in expanding its operations in India and will help Nissan to cut costs as it looks to implement its revival plan.
A new agreement would ensure that ongoing projects between Renault and Nissan in India would continue and the two firms would continue to jointly own their technology and business centre in the country.
