Although sales in the Irish market will be quite small, the new Renault Twingo is expected to help boost the French car brand here as part of an ongoing regeneration of the company’s whole range,
writes Brian Byrne.
Speaking at the launch of the third generation of the city car, Renault Ireland’s Country Manager Paddy Magee said the marketing spend associated with Twingo will be ‘more for the brand than the model’, which he expects will attract potential customers to Renault showrooms even if they actually buy another Renault model. “We don’t have a target for Twingo, it’s an addition to the new design ethos of Renault. It’s a case of getting it onto the market and having fun with it.”
The design theme around the new Twingo reflects that ‘fun’ thought, though the new smallest mainstream model is also a serious car indeed, which is likely to do very well in other European markets where the segment is of much greater size than the 3.1 percent share is in Ireland. In the UK, for instance, such city cars represent some 20 percent of all car sales.
“That said, here in Ireland the share is growing,” says Lynne Boucher, Renault Ireland’s Marketing Manager. “Even in this year to date, share has increased by 27 percent.”
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| Paddy Magee, Renault Ireland country manager. |
With a starting price of €13,990, the new Twingo will be available in four versions and three trim levels — Expression, Play and Dynamique — powered by either 70hp or 90hp versions of the 1.0 3-cylinder petrol engine, the latter being turbocharged. The format of rear engine/rear drive recalls cars of the 1960s such as the NSU Prinz, Simca 1100 and VW Beetle, though all of those were air-cooled.
Although 10cm shorter than the previous generation Twingo, a longer wheelbase means there’s actually more room inside. And despite the fact that the engine is in the rear, under the boot floor, there’s a significant cargo capacity, which can be extended to some 980L by folding the rear seats flat. The car also comes with a fold-flat passenger seat as standard, offering a load length of up to 2.3m.
Lynne Boucher expects that 50 percent of sales will be using the Renault Bank’s PCP facility from €139 a week.
Pictured are Lynne Boucher, Marketing Manager, Renault Ireland; Kevin Troy, Sales Director; Karla Clifford, Brand Communications Manager; Gaelle Humbert, MD, Renault Finance (RCI Banque Branch Ireland); and Tim Devane, After Sales Manager.
