Smart has started testing the chassis that will underpin both its revived Forfour and Renault’s successor to the Twingo supermini.
This test mule, spied outside Mercedes’ technical centre in Germany, is believed to feature Smart/Mercedes hardware under body panels from the current Twingo.
As reported in March, Renault’s next-generation city car will share a platform with Smart’s four-seater as part of Renault-Nissan’s platform and drivetrain co-operation with Daimler.
A key element of that tie-up was ‘Project Edison’, a plan to create a modular platform that will underpin the Forfour and Twingo replacement, as well as Smart’s smaller Fortwo and, potentially, a new Renault equivalent.
Although the Forfour and Twingo will share a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive platform, they will have different exterior designs. Unlike the first Forfour, which used a conventional two-box design, the new model is set to adopt a more upright one-box profile. At 3500mm in length and 1550mm in height, the new Smart/Renault will be around 800mm longer than today’s Fortwo.
Power will come from a new range of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines that are being developed as part of the Daimler/Renault-Nissan co-operation. Hybrid and electric powertrains are also expected. The cars will be built at Renault’s factory at Novo Mesto, Slovenia.
Renault’s version of the Forfour could adopt a new name, leaving the Fortwo sister car to be called Twingo.
