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VW and Renault end talks to develop affordable EV, sources say

PARIS/BERLIN – Volkswagen has walked away from talks with Renault to jointly develop an affordable electric version of the Twingo subcompact car, three sources familiar with the situation said, in a setback for the EU carmakers' efforts to fend off Chinese rivals. The collapse of negotiations could mean the German carmaker may have to go it alone in developing its own affordable EV. Renault will continue designing its electric Twingo, scheduled to hit the market in 2026. Both had hoped that sharing the work would cut costs that represent a key hurdle for European carmakers in the face of cheaper cars from China. Volkswagen broke off discussions mainly because Renault had wanted to build the car in one of its plants at a time when VW is seeking to fully utilize its European production network, one of the sources said. Ampere, Renault's EV operation overseeing the Twingo program, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Volkswagen also declined to comment on the talks between the companies but said that the German carmaker was still studying its options on cheap EVs. The companies "did not succeed in finding an agreement" after several months of negotiations, one of the sources said. Another source said that an agreement had been very close, but that VW walked away from the talks and has decided to develop its own car. The sources declined to be named because the talks are confidential. VW sources said a decision on the EV plan is expected within weeks. Thomas Schaefer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, has said he wants to launch a lower-priced EV by 2027. The second source said Renault would continue work on the Twingo without VW, but also remained open to other partners, for instance from the alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. It is also a blow for Renault CEO Luca de Meo's hopes for greater cooperation between European carmakers against their Chinese competitors, akin to Airbus which has stakeholders and operations across European countries. The VW-Renault tie-up for the Twingo could have formed the "basis" of an Airbus for autos, the second source said. China's automakers, the world's top EV producers, are making fast inroads in the European market, pressuring incumbents like Renault and VW to cut costs and speed up the time it takes to bring a new model to market. European automakers are aiming to produce smaller EVs that sell below 20,000 euros ($21,686) to help them compete with Chinese brands like BYD.

VW using other manufacturing locations as leverage in battle with TN [w/video]

We've reached a new step in the ongoing drama at Volkswagen's factory in Chattanooga, TN. The United Auto Workers recently dropped its opposition to the union vote and agreed that it wouldn't hold another ballot for at least a year. Now, the new question becomes where VW is going to build its forthcoming midsize SUV.
Earlier, it had been considered all but certain that the SUV, likely a production version of the CrossBlue concept (pictured above), would be built in Tennessee. However, it seems the Chattanooga factory might have competition to produce it. In emails obtained by The Detroit News, VW's lawyer wrote to the Tennessee economic development department in January saying, "While we understand there are some 'non-deal' issues that are causing a delay in the TN solution, VW has been successful in reaching agreement on terms at the alternative locations."
As previously reported, the state of Tennessee allegedly offered VW about $300 million in incentives to build the vehicle there and create an estimated 1,350 jobs, but it later rescinded the deal. Newly leaked documents from NewsChannel 5 (WTVF-TV) in Nashville allegedly show just how close that offer was to being completed. It appears that VW actually sent the government the first draft of a memorandum of understanding agreeing to the incentives, but the state removed the offer in late January.

The cars and trucks of 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts'

The latest spectacle in the Transformers franchise is about to hit the theaters. The final trailer was released, giving us peeks at what appears to be a pretty boilerplate story about the end of the world. There's some kind of ancient interplanetary war brewing and it's up to some teenagers to sort it out with the help of their robot buddies. But this is Autoblog, so we're not even going to try to suss out a plot so thin it won't hold a spittle globule's worth of water. We'll just go over the cars. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | Official Final Trailer (2023 Movie) Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.8: Mirage So far the star of the film, car-wise, looks to be a blue-on-silver 964 Porsche named Mirage that is voiced by Pete Davidson. It's been the most promoted of the movie cars, even more so than formerly central characters like Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. Except, this isn't just any ordinary 911; it's a Carrera RS 3.8, a European-exclusive model of which Porsche only built 55 units. As the name implies, it came with a bored-out M64 turbo flat-six as opposed to the 964 Turbo's 3.6. It wore the Turbo's wide-body badonk with a bi-level rear wing, but Porsche reportedly stripped out 570 pounds' worth of weight despite embiggening key performance parts like brakes and wheels. Fortunately, no actual RS 3.8s were used in the movie. Producers instead built five cars for different purposes — shooting closeups of actors, jumps, the obligatory driving backwards real fast — out of lesser 911s. However, the sound department did record the engine note of an actual RS 3.8 for accuracy, as the higher crank speeds of the 3.8 have a distinctive sound.  In the original 1984 Transformers lineup Mirage was a Ligier JS11 Formula 1 car, complete with faux Gitanes cigarette branding (on a children's toy!). An F1 racer would raise an eyebrow on the streets, so it made sense to update to a street-legal sports car. If you're wondering why this Porsche isn't the character Jazz, whose original vehicle mode was an ultra-cool Martini-liveried Porsche 935, well, he was remade into a Pontiac Solstice voiced by Darius McCrary during the GM product placement rewrite in 2007's Transformers reboot, then unceremoniously killed. 1977 Chevrolet Camaro: Bumblebee Formerly the franchise star, Bumblebee gets far less screen time in the trailers. He's still a Camaro, but because Transformers: Rise of the Beasts takes place in 1994 he's not a fith-gen.