VW weighs co-operation with Renault on €20,000 electric car
Annual production of 200,000 to 250,000 vehicles is the target, according to reports.
Volkswagen is speaking with potential partners, including France's Renault, about co-operating on the development of its €20,000 electric car, Germany's newspaper has reported.
The German carmaker is interested in co-operating on a platform for the car that it hopes will make battery-powered vehicles affordable for the masses, Handelsblatt reported.
Talks with Renault are still "at a very early stage" and could come to nothing, the newspaper cited the sources as saying. Annual production of 200,000 to 250,000 vehicles is the target for both partners together, according to . Volkswagen declined to comment on the report.
A spokesperson for Renault said that cooperation was necessary to be competitive with small-entry electric vehicles.
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European carmakers have stepped up efforts to bring more affordable electric vehicles to market as they face increased competition from US carmaker Tesla and cheaper Chinese models.
The average retail price of an electric car in Europe in the first half of 2023 was over €65,000, according to autos research firm JATO Dynamics, compared to just over €31,000 in China.
Renault last month announced the launch of a new electric Twingo, called Legend, at less than €20,000, with finance chief Thierry Pieton saying the aim was to democratise the electric market, while Volkswagen in March laid out the details of an all-electric under development for €25,000, to launch by 2025.
The German firm said at the time it was also working on a €20,000 vehicle, but did not provide further information.
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said last month that the company had not made a decision on producing the car yet but he was convinced it could get there by the second half of the decade.
- Reuters
