- Renault will introduce a new EV model that brings back the first-gen Twingo’s iconic design.
- The French company claims that this model will go into production soon and that it will cost less than €20,000.
- We don’t have any mechanical details, but we love how this retro Twingo looks.
The first-generation Renault Twingo was one of the most iconic French cars of the 1990s, and its distinctive style is set to return as an affordable EV hatchback. Renault recently detailed many of its future plans for a new lineup of electric cars, including this new Twingo Legend concept that it promises will go into production as an affordable entry-level model with a starting price of under €20,000.
We don’t have any specifications for the retro-styled Twingo EV, but it will ride on one of Renault’s new EV-specific platforms. More importantly, it looks adorable thanks to design elements that are clearly an homage to the original Twingo, including semicircle-shaped headlights and taillights and an upright two-door hatchback shape that should make for a remarkably spacious cabin given its tiny footprint.
The Twingo won’t be the only retro Renault EV, either, as the company also showed a Renault 5 EV concept modeled after the hatchback from the 1970s and 1980s that was sold in the U.S. as the Le Car. The Twingo never made it to our shores, as it was introduced after Renault departed the American market, but it was a popular city car in Europe throughout its first generation, which lasted from 1992 until 2007. Two successive generations came later but didn’t make quite as big of an impression as the first-gen model did.
Renault Twingo (First-generation)
When Renault’s new slate of affordable EVs arrive, they’ll face competition from other European automakers also aiming to break into this new slice of the market. Citroën’s ë-C3, for instance, also carries a sub-€20,000 starting price and is slated to go on sale in 2025.
Senior Editor
Despite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.