Say hello to the first scoop pictures of the next Renault Twingo wearing its production outfit! Forgive our excitement on Renault’s upcoming replacement for the Twingo, which may or may not keep the same name, but when was the last time that an automaker truly shuffled things up in the city car segment?
No, we’re not talking about styling alone as we’ve seen many interesting proposals ranging from the Fiat 500 to the Mini and Opel’s Adam in recent years, but (mainly) about mechanical choices as well.
So, what makes the new Twingo so special in our eyes? Well, putting aside it’s shape and styling that draws on the classic Renault 5 hatch, the new French city car sits atop a platform architecture with a rear-mounted engine driving the rear wheels.
Sure, Smart has done that with its ForTwo, but the Renault mini will be substantially longer measuring around 3,700mm (146-inches) versus the Smart’s 2,690mm (106-inches) long body and will be able to seat more than two people.
The references to Smart were not made by chance as Daimler, owner of both Smart and Mercedes-Benz brands, and the Renault-Nissan Alliance, have worked together on the development of the modular rear-engine platform underpinning the new Twingo, with Smart to use it on the next ForTwo and the new five-door ForFour models. The two partners haven’t released anything on the powertrain options, but they will be common (with some minor differences) on the Smart and Twingo vehicles. An electric version is also believed to be offered in the near future.
The design of the new Twingo was previewed by the Renault Twin’Z five-door hatch and the much, much racier three-door 320HP Twin’Run concepts, with the production car staying remarkably close. Unfortunately, recent reports stated that Renault has likely put the three-door model on ice.
It’s not official yet, but we hear that the new Twingo will launch in Europe late next year.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoopS
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