The Paris Motor Show showed the renewed commitment of French manufacturers to electric mobility at more accessible prices, at a time of doubts in the motor sector in Europe.
According to a report by the news agency efe, the 90th edition coincides with the arrival in the French market of a new batch of small European electric models, which are seeking a wide diffusion among the average buyer thanks to their more affordable prices.
Renault presented the final design of its new R4, which will return to the market next year as a small SUV to continue the retro-futuristic line already started with the R5, which has already begun marketing in France.
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Both vehicles are based on the same all-electric platform, slightly lengthened in the case of the R4.
Pricing
The R5 promises a price of 25,000 euros (before public aid for the purchase of electric cars) for its most basic versions that will go on sale next year while the R4 would start from about 30,000.
Renault also showed the aesthetics of its future electric Twingo, which follows the same retro trend and which the brand promises will be on the market in 2026 at a price of about 20,000 euros.
As part of Renault’s firm commitment to nostalgia, the R4 incorporates numerous aesthetic nods to the original model, which was manufactured between 1961 and 1995 and of which more than eight million examples were produced worldwide.
The round headlights, the rear lights divided into three segments or the side window are some of these details.
The diamond brand also unveiled its Embleme concept, which combines an electric motor powered by both a battery and a fuel cell (hydrogen) that promises a range of 1,000 kilometers, according to Renault group CEO Luca de Meo.
The other major French manufacturer (Stellantis, which groups 14 brands from France, Italy, USA, Germany and other countries) presented in Paris the vehicles of its Chinese joint venture Leapmotor, with which it aspires to take advantage of the growing penetration of Chinese cars in Europe.
This edition of the Paris Motor Show, which is held every two years alternating with the Geneva Motor Show, comes at a delicate moment for European manufacturers, who have repeatedly asked the European Union for an industrial strategy for the sector and have warned of the possible closure of factories, as Volkswagen recently warned in Germany.
