Car will be shown in Milan and features styling input from Ross Lovegrove
Renault and industrial designer Ross Lovegrove will reveal a new concept car at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan next month. The design could influence the next Twingo, itself twinned with the next Smart ForFour.
The concept will further advance Renault's latest design strategy, pioneered by Laurens van der Acker in 2010. Using the 'life cycle' as an overall theme, individual concepts have aimed to represent six different stages and experiences of human life.
The DeZir was the first concept created under this ethos and was said to reflect the 'falling in love' stage of our lives. The 'family' and 'work' phases we experience were represented by the subsequent R-Space and Frendzy concepts respectively.
This latest collaboration between Renault and Ross Lovegrove is understood to be the concept for the 'play' stage of the design language. According to Renault's design director for concept and show cars, Axel Breun, the production Twingo will use elements of the play concept to be simple, cute and sporty. The car will also use a rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout, but further details are currently scarce.
The final concept, inspired by 'wisdom', is likely to be a preview for the new Espace.
Of the latest project, Renault has said it intends to reveal "nature's underlying blueprints and transfer them into a new design language". After being unveiled on 8 April, the Renault/Ross Lovegrove concept will be exhibited in Milan from 9-14 April.
Matt Bird