Renault believes its new retro models can kick-start demand for EVs among private buyers in Europe, while its larger and more conventional models can expand its share of the crucial fleet market.
The new Twingo, due on sale next year, will join the Renault 5 and Renault 4 in a line-up of nostalgic electric superminis that sit on the CMF-BEV platform.
The trio contrast sharply with Renault's more conventionally styled electric crossovers, which are popular on the fleet market.
Renault CEO Fabrice Cambolive said this dual-pronged approach to expanding Renault’s product line-up will ensure the firm is able to notch up a significant share of both markets, which comprise wholly disparate customer bases and are growing at different rates.
Speaking to journalists at the Brussels motor show, where the 5 was named Car of the Year, he forecasted that the popularity of Renault's three retro EVs wouldn't come at the expense of its conventional EVs.
“I think, first of all, we shouldn't speak about 'mainstream'," said Cambolive, "because what does mainstream mean?
"If I take the example of the R5, we just started with the highest battery at €30,000-plus, but now we've introduced in Europe – and you will have it also in the UK – a €28,000 version with the lowest battery, and we will come quite soon with a €25,000 version, but I don't consider those cars as mainstream, because they have top-notch connectivity – the level of the C- and D-segments.
"They have torque, agility, acceleration, drive, handling and comfort which are quite different from all the other cars. So for me, I wouldn't say that."
He said the small EVs are purposefully distinctive in their design, because retail buyers tend to be more emotionally led than fleet user-choosers, and Renault was able to take advantage of a gap in this market as other manufacturers removed their smallest models from sale.
“If you look at what has happened in Europe, we see EV adoption going through two different levels.
"On one hand you have a shift on the fleet market - and this shift is going through the C-D-segment. And this shift is not only a question of taste, but also of regulation, subsidies, fleet policy from companies and fiscality. What we see is that the Scenic [for example] will be helped this year with a lot of regulation which is going to have companies go greener.
“On the other hand, there is another level in terms of EV growing, which is the B-segment retail market, where people just make a trade-off in terms of price between an ICE and an EV. And for us, what's important for that is to be capable – with the Twingo at €20,000 and the R5 at €25,000 – to have the best EV market coverage.”
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