Tag Archives: Europe

NEW CARS

2027 Dacia New Spring Trades Cheap-and-Cheerful Roots for a European Future

The Dacia Spring has always been an automotive outlier. It wasn’t particularly fast, sophisticated, or refined, but that was never the point. What made it remarkable was its price tag. For years, it stood as one of Europe’s cheapest electric vehicles, offering a no-frills route into EV ownership. Now, Dacia is preparing to rewrite the formula.

Meet the New Spring.

Yes, that’s officially the name. Dacia has confirmed that its upcoming electric city car will retain the Spring badge but add a “New” prefix to distinguish it from the existing model that will continue to be sold alongside it. The naming strategy may be confusing, but the car itself represents a much bigger shift than a simple facelift or model-year update.

Most importantly, the New Spring abandons its Chinese origins.

The original Spring arrived in 2021 as a heavily reworked version of the Renault Kwid EV, built in China and riding on the aging CMFA-EV platform. While Dacia refreshed the car substantially in 2024 and boosted performance with updated powertrains and batteries in 2025, the underlying architecture remained unchanged.

The New Spring changes all of that.

Instead of being sourced from China, the newcomer will be built in Europe and will ride on Renault Group’s modern AmpR Small platform. That’s the same architecture underpinning the upcoming Renault Twingo E-Tech, giving Dacia access to a far more advanced foundation than the outgoing model ever had.

A recently released teaser image reveals only the rear of the vehicle, but it already suggests a more mature design direction. The tailgate appears upright and practical, while square-shaped LED taillights and clean body surfacing emphasize functionality over fashion. It remains unmistakably a city car, but one that looks considerably more substantial than its predecessor.

Dacia hasn’t revealed the cabin yet, although the company promises “four real seats and a real trunk”—a subtle acknowledgment that space and practicality remain central to the Spring’s mission. Expect a minimalist interior focused on durability and usability rather than luxury. The brand’s increasingly popular YouClip accessory system will likely make an appearance, allowing owners to customize storage solutions and interior accessories.

The real story, however, lies beneath the sheetmetal.

Technical specifications remain under wraps, but industry expectations point toward a setup borrowed largely from the Renault Twingo E-Tech. That would mean an electric motor producing around 80 horsepower paired with a 27.5-kWh battery pack. Those figures may not sound impressive, but they represent a meaningful improvement over the entry-level Spring’s modest output and should provide more than enough performance for urban environments.

Dacia’s gamble appears well-founded. Since its launch, the Spring has found nearly 210,000 buyers across Europe, proving that affordability can outweigh concerns about range, performance, or prestige. For many consumers, it wasn’t the best EV—it was simply the one they could actually afford.

That affordability equation is changing, however.

Dacia says the New Spring will start below €18,000. While that would still make it one of Europe’s least expensive electric cars, it represents a significant increase over the outgoing Spring, which was available in Germany earlier this year for roughly €11,900.

The higher price should bring meaningful gains in technology, safety, performance, and overall refinement. In other words, Dacia appears ready to move the Spring from bargain-basement transportation to something approaching a genuinely modern EV.

What won’t change is the basic formula. The New Spring will retain compact dimensions, five doors, and city-friendly proportions, as confirmed by previous design sketches. It’s still designed for crowded urban streets, tight parking spaces, and buyers who prioritize practicality over prestige.

Only now, it seems, Dacia wants those buyers to have a little more car for their money.

And for the first time, the Spring may be more than just the cheapest EV in Europe—it might actually be one of the most compelling.

Source: Dacia

News

Geely Builds a European Brain: New Tech Hub Aims to Shrink the China-to-Showroom Gap

Global expansion in the auto industry usually means more factories, more dealers, and more marketing muscle. But Geely is betting that brains—not bricks—are what it needs most right now. The Chinese automaker has merged its engineering operations in Sweden and Germany into a single entity called Geely Technology Europe, and the goal is simple: build cars for the world from day one, not retrofit them later.

This new hub consolidates research and development talent across the continent, effectively turning Europe into a central node in Geely’s global engineering network. The move builds on a foundation laid back in 2013, when the company partnered with Volvo to establish an R&D foothold in Gothenburg. What started as a collaborative engineering outpost has now evolved into a full-blown European brain trust—one designed to accelerate model launches and harmonize development across markets.

Geely Technology Europe won’t operate in isolation. Instead, it will function as a bridge between European expertise and the company’s main development center in China. The idea is to create vehicle platforms that meet global standards right out of the gate, rather than undergoing lengthy—and costly—regional adaptations later. That’s a subtle shift in strategy, but it has major implications for how quickly new models can travel from Chinese unveilings to international showrooms.

According to CEO Giovanni Lanfranchi, Europe isn’t just another market—it’s the benchmark. By creating what he calls a “borderless” R&D structure, Geely aims not only to meet regulatory and technical standards, but to help define them. That’s particularly important for the group’s expanding portfolio of brands, including premium EV players and globally minded sub-brands that need credibility in demanding Western markets.

One of the clearest performance targets underscores the urgency. Historically, Geely vehicles introduced in China could take years to reach overseas customers, slowed by certification requirements and technical tweaks. The new engineering setup is designed to slash that delay to less than six months. If achieved, it would dramatically compress development timelines and allow Geely to compete more directly with established global automakers.

The work ahead focuses on three core pillars: shared global architectures, market-specific product optimization, and AI-driven digital systems. That last category includes smart cockpit technologies and advanced driver-assistance features—areas where software development speed increasingly defines competitiveness. The recent certification of the company’s G-ASD driver assistance system for European use signals that Geely is already pushing forward on this front.

Meanwhile, the company’s broader ambitions extend beyond Europe. A massive new safety testing center in Hangzhou Bay—scheduled to open in late 2025—will feed data and development into the global pipeline. Built with lessons learned from Volvo’s safety heritage, the facility highlights Geely’s intent to compete not just on volume, but on engineering credibility.

Put it all together, and Geely Technology Europe looks less like a regional office and more like a strategic nerve center. If it succeeds, future Geely products may arrive in international markets faster, smarter, and more tailored from the outset. And in an industry where timing is everything, shaving years down to months could be the difference between chasing trends and setting them.

Source: Geely

News

Ford is coming back

For the better part of a decade, Ford Motor Company has treated traditional passenger cars the way most people treat old gym memberships—fond memories, but ultimately expendable. Crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks became the main course, while sedans and hatchbacks were quietly cleared from the table. In Europe, that meant saying goodbye to staples like the Ford Mondeo, Ford Fiesta, and Ford Focus. In America, the purge was even more dramatic. Today, the Ford Mustang stands alone as the brand’s only traditional passenger car.

But now? There’s a flicker of something unexpected: contrition. Or at least, recalibration.

During Ford’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, CEO Jim Farley hinted that the company isn’t done building cars for Europe. Not exactly a grand revival tour—but not a funeral procession, either.

“We have plans, exciting plans for Europe, related to our passenger cars,” Farley said, carefully threading the needle between optimism and caution. The key phrase wasn’t “exciting,” though—it was “profitable.” Ford doesn’t just want to build cars; it wants to build cars that make money. And not just for the company, but for dealers, too.

That’s a subtle but important shift. The previous retreat from cars was largely justified by razor-thin margins and Europe’s brutally competitive small-car market. If Ford returns, it won’t be to relive the glory days of volume for volume’s sake. It’ll be to play in segments where it believes it has an edge.

The Renault Connection

The biggest clue to Ford’s strategy lies not in Dearborn, but in France. The company is collaborating with Renault to develop at least two electric vehicles based on the French automaker’s AmpR small EV platform—the same architecture underpinning the reborn Renault 5 and the new Renault 4.

One of those Fords is widely expected to be an all-electric spiritual successor to the Fiesta. If that happens, it would mark a poetic return for one of Europe’s most beloved superminis—this time humming instead of buzzing. The other model could take the shape of a compact electric crossover, potentially replacing the Puma Gen-E down the line.

It’s a pragmatic move. Developing small EVs from scratch is a financial blood sport, and sharing platforms spreads the cost. More importantly, it allows Ford to re-enter segments it abandoned—without betting the farm.

Hybrids, Partners, and a 2027 Timeline

Ford’s head of Germany, Christoph Herr, reportedly told dealers that the company would invest in several new vehicles—some co-developed with partners, some not—and that they’d arrive starting in 2027. Powertrains? A mix of hybrids and all-electrics.

That timeline matters. By 2027, Europe’s regulatory landscape will be even more aggressive about emissions, and consumer appetite for electrification will likely be stronger—assuming infrastructure keeps pace. A carefully timed re-entry could allow Ford to surf the wave instead of fighting it.

Overseeing this new chapter is Christian Weingaertner, freshly appointed general manager of the passenger vehicle division. His background in business transformation suggests this won’t be a nostalgic exercise. Expect spreadsheets to matter as much as steering feel.

Not a U-Turn—More Like a Three-Point Turn

Let’s be clear: this isn’t Ford admitting it was wrong to prioritize trucks and SUVs. Those vehicles are still the company’s financial backbone. But Europe is a different battlefield. Compact cars and city-friendly EVs remain culturally and economically relevant there in ways they simply aren’t in the U.S.

If Ford can leverage Renault’s hardware, keep costs in check, and deliver a product with genuine Blue Oval character—sharp steering, smart packaging, maybe even a dash of fun—it could carve out a profitable niche. Not a mass-market blitz. More of a precision strike.

The real question isn’t whether Ford can build another great European hatchback. It’s whether it can build one that makes money in 2027 and beyond.

After years of thinning the herd, Ford may finally be ready to plant something new in Europe’s passenger-car soil. The difference this time? It’s bringing a calculator along for the ride.

Source: Ford Authority