Renault and Volkswagen have reportedly ended their talks on a possible collaboration on a low-cost electric car without an agreement.
Reuters reported that Renault CEO Luca de Meo told the news agency that the plan for the two companies to jointly develop an affordable electric car – likely based on the Twingo – is now a “missed opportunity, but there could be more” .
The plan was to collaborate on a model with a price low enough to compete with cheap BEV models from Chinese OEMs such as BYD. In China, BYD sells electric cars under $10,000. European OEMs are struggling to get their models under 20,000 euros.
Analysts say bringing two major car companies together to jointly develop a major model is never easy.
“The difficulty is in the details, and the question of who brings what to the party is never simple,” says GlobalData analyst Al Bedwell. “The theory behind co-development and cost sharing between OEMs can sound quite compelling under certain circumstances. The difficulties start when you get into the details of whose technology is being used, which platform, the supply of key components, manufacturing locations and so on. There will be competing engineering departments in the individual companies that want a big piece of the action.
“The discussions – by their nature – involve give-and-take compromises from all sides, but sometimes that is difficult to achieve. The matrix of potential project responsibilities can become too complex, negating the savings everyone hoped for from the start.
“It’s about matching expectations and sometimes the discussions can be a bit more complex to arrange in a way that works for both parties. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a good place for OEMs to collaborate on shared model development and subsequent production, if the will is there.”
“Renault and VW end talks on joint ‘e-Twingo’ report” was originally created and published by Just Auto, a brand owned by GlobalData.
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