I have to imagine it'll be largely carryover with perhaps some different switches. I'm sure they'd want to change as little as possible to keep costs down.
The reviewer in video I watched said A Segment represents 5% of total market, but also questioned whether that 5% was limited by real demand or more by manufacturers who ignored the segment while pursuing more expensive vehicles with greater margins and profits. Some people think it creates a self fulfilling prophecy. If manufacturers don’t make great small cars because they don’t want to invest limited resources then buyers won’t show much interest in cheap models they do build. It’s one down side to free markets — end user does not always get what they really want because of corporate pressure for higher profits.
Thanks for link. Renault is a bigger player in Europe than I was aware of, per article. It’s interesting that Twingo reviewer said car only took 2 years to complete from start. If accurate that’s impressive. I like the Twingo in large part because I always thought BEVs should have started on small side and moved upscale from there, but also know and accept that for Tesla to make electrification commonplace they needed to attract the rich with money to burn first, and then move downmarket. Maybe $30k vehicles won’t be any more successful than $50k-plus-cars that few people are buying. My personal guess is that cheaper will be better, and expect cars like Bolt to outsell more expensive models.
I’m interested in seeing what the interior looks like. Will it look like the Chinese version? Regardless, I'm happy it's staying. I especially like the look of the Chinese corsair better. It fits the current Lincoln design language.
I personally don’t care about any of that stuff. I’d rather them hire a few more techs so that it doesn’t take 2.5 hrs for an oil change every time I go in.
Yeah, the line of thinking there was definitely "We make most of our money on large trucks and SUVs, so those will be our most profitable EVs". Definitely a mistake, but they've learned from it.
That's another reason why these affordable EVs make so much sense. It's going to where the demand actually is. Younger people often seem to be far more accepting of EVs, and willing to buy them, but most of them can't afford a 70 grand truck. But they can afford a new car that's 25-30k.
Time will tell, but another part about this strategy that I find brilliant is it seems like Ford's not just stopping at affordability. Like these aren't just gonna be shitty cars that rely entirely on price to sell. It sounds like they're actually pushing for them to be fun, and interesting cars.
That's the best part of this equation imo as an enthusiast myself. I've often said where Ford is the best car company in the world is with their affordable aspirational products. Dream cars, the kinds of cars people love, and have a strong emotional attachment to, but that are also obtainable, no-one does that better than Ford.
So if these affordable EVs come out and they're these awesome looking, fun to drive, reliable, well equipped products, I think Ford's gonna run away with it.
The other issue is that Auto makers thought that making EV products that where full sized Trucks would be the smart move to do-its the biggest segment sales wise (at least in the US) and people don't have issues dumping say $65-75K on them, it would be a home run-help in the CAFE dept and make a tidy profit at the same time, but unfortunately the physics and that market being pretty conservative doesn't help out in the sales department.
Depends on what market your talking about-the C segment is the biggest in the world
The A class segment is pretty small in the EU-only 500K units or so, vs the B or C-CUV market that makes up about 5 million sales between the two of them.
https://www.jato.com/resources/media-and-press-releases/european-new-car-market-growth-in-2024-driven-by-hybrids-and-chinese-brands
The new Twingo isn't a bad looking product for being a City car...I'll give it that much.
Farley is probably correct now, after first being wrong, but question remains of where is the sweet spot on EV pricing? We hear $30k mentioned often more recently but who knows if that’s ideal starting point? Only time will tell.
Just watched a video review of a sub $26,000 (20,000 pounds) Renault Twingo and one of the points made is that there are a growing number of small affordable EVs from European Legacy manufacturers that are now competing with Chinese EVs. Sure, an A segment isn’t for everyone but this new Twingo appears extremely functional for those who either want to get from point A to B, and or want to reduce their CO2 footprint. For the price I like it better than Fiat 500e.
Creative engineering seems to have resulted in adequate space for a tiny car powered by only 27.5 kWh LFP battery, yet gets 163 miles of range, excellent for a City car. Low weight no doubt helps energy efficiency and thus contributes to lower costs. I hope Ford’s new EV will also stand out with unexpected efficiency, just in a larger package.
For what it’s worth I like the Twingo being a 4-seater 4-door, rear seats that slide and fold, as well as the passenger’s front seat for long cargo, and also like rear doors that open into bodywork instead of rear wheel wells. I cringe at that. ☹️