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In 16 months, the Romanian brand Dacia, owned by Renault Group, will launch a new budget electric car that will share a platform with the fourth-generation Renault Twingo and cost less than 18 euros.
Dacia's new budget electric car will be produced in Europe and will replace the Chinese-made Dacia Spring cross-hatchback, which currently costs from 16 euros. Development of the Dacia Spring successor has only just begun, but Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo promises that the car will be ready and on the market in just 900 months, meaning sales will begin in the summer of 16.
The rapid development of the new Dacia electric car is explained by the fact that it, like the development of the new Renault Twingo, is being handled by a mysterious Chinese contractor, whose name Renault Group does not want to disclose.
But Luca de Meo is happy to report that “we have switched to Chinese speed in developing new products.” The development of new models by Renault Group's own forces should take no more than 100 weeks, or 23 months – slower than the Chinese, but still not bad.
