Nissan launching new Renault Twingo based electric city car

The new Nissan electric city car is expected to sit below the Micra and the Leaf and Juke EVs in the carmaker’s European EV line-up.

Nissan is set to launch a new small electric city car in 2026. The car will be based on the Renault Twingo and will be made in RHD for the UK market.

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 Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, Renault is already set to produce a new electric Micra in 2026.

The new Nissan electric city car is expected to sit below the Micra and the Leaf and Juke EVs in the carmaker’s European EV line-up. Nissan said that it would design the car and that it fitted its “roadmap for reducing development costs and time”.

One of Nissan’s priorities for its revival plan is to reduce time in launching new models to the market, especially after the failed Honda merger talks.

Renault boss Luca de Meo had previously talked about launching an RHD version of the Twingo. He said that it would depend on a deal with Nissan to produce the sibling model.

Under the existing Alliance agreement, Renault has taken the lead on developing the Ampr Small/CMF-BEV platform while Nissan is developing the Ampr Medium/CMF-EV platform for larger models.

Additionally, the Renault Group and Nissan have agreed to a new Alliance Agreement, in which the "lock-up undertaking" of the cross-shareholding has been reduced from 15% to 10%.

Also, the Renault Group is set to acquire 51% of the pair's Indian joint venture, Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd, that's currently held by Nissan. This is part of Renault’s bigger plan to invest in its India operations, which in turn will help Nissan cut costs, thus benefitting its revival plan. The new agreement will ensure that ongoing projects between the two manufacturers will continue and that both will continue to jointly own their technology and business centres in the country.

As far as India goes, Nissan recently announced the launch of a mid-size MPV based on the Renault Triber and a mid-size Renault Duster-based SUV. Both are slated for an FY2026 launch.

Source: Autocar UK