Volkswagen Group might flip to exterior assist in its quest to ship an electrical automobile with a beginning worth of round 20,000 euros (roughly $21,500).

Citing folks conversant in the matter, Germany’s Handelsblatt (subscription required) reported over the weekend that VW Group is in talks with potential companions over joint growth of reasonably priced EVs, with Renault talked about as one of many companions.

Renault, whose CEO Luca de Meo is a former senior VW Group govt, is thought to be planning an reasonably priced EV for later this decade. The automobile might be a successor to the present Renault Twingo minicar that was collectively developed with Mercedes-Benz’s Sensible model. Renault teased the chance earlier this 12 months with the reveal of the Twingo Legend, an idea with retro styling mimicking the unique Twingo of the Nineties.

In response to Handelsblatt, VW Group is all in favour of joint growth of a platform for reasonably priced EVs, however continues to be solely in early discussions with potential companions.

Renault Twingo Legend idea

VW Group is already engaged on subcompact EVs anticipated to priced from round 25,000 euros ($26,900). Due round 2025, there will likely be one every for VW Group’s Volkswagen, Skoda, and SEAT (or Cupra) manufacturers. The VW, which can probably be referred to as the ID.2, has been noticed testing and was previewed earlier this 12 months with the ID.2all idea.

Extra reasonably priced EVs from VW Group will probably sit within the minicar section, which suggests they will have a slim probability of reaching the U.S. market the place greater autos are typically favored.

Information of the potential partnership comes simply weeks after it was made public that Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the VW model, instructed employees that the model is not aggressive, amid huge ongoing value cuts.

Competitors from Chinese language manufacturers is especially a difficulty for a lot of European manufacturers, each at residence and within the Chinese language market. To hurry up growth of EVs for China, which is the world’s greatest marketplace for each new autos and EVs, the VW model earlier this 12 months partnered with Xpeng in a deal that may permit it to realize entry to the a number of the Chinese language automaker’s EV platforms. Fellow VW Group model Audi additionally cast an identical deal with China’s SAIC this 12 months.