Renault’s new Twingo will be sold in Britain as a right-hooker next time around. Today’s model never made the transition to right-hand drive, but its replacement, revealed in our artist’s impression, will become Renault’s cheapest – and most cheerful – model since the 4.
Incredibly, the current Twingo has been on sale virtually unchanged since 1993 – and it has another three years to soldier on before the new car is launched in 2007. It will join the French firm’s growing small-car family, sitting beneath the Clio supermini and Modus mini-MPV (right).
Today, Twingo prices start below £6000, and that is unlikely to change for the new model.
Twingo 2 will be built around the B platform developed by Nissan and Renault for their smallest cars, such as the Micra and next Clio. Sharing components with super-minis from the class above should guarantee the Twingo city car will get their technology and safety features.
However, the Twingo’s will remain a simple range, offering the choice of just one small petrol and diesel engine. Today’s model has even less choice – it is only sold as a 1.2 16-valve petrol.
‘City car buyers don’t demand lots of choice in this sector,’ said one source. ‘They just want a simple car that is well designed and does everything they want with no fuss.’
Although the Twingo has never been sold officially in the UK, main dealer Renault London West recently started offering left-hookers for £5995. Despite not being sold here – and its age – it was Europe’s best-selling city car last year.
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