Ford is a shadow of its former self in Europe, where it has spectacularly fallen behind the competition. A look at the sales data published by the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association shows the Blue Oval delivered 1.2 million cars on the continent in 2005, holding an 8.3 percent market share. Fast-forward 20 years, and deliveries plummeted to just 256,750 in the first ten months of 2025, dropping Ford’s market share to 2.9 percent, according to the same ACEA. The remaining two months are unlikely to move the needle.
Scrambling for cars after shockingly killing the Ka, Fiesta, Focus, and Mondeo this decade, Ford is forging an alliance with another automaker to save itself. After collaborating with Volkswagen on the ID.4-based Explorer and ID.5-based Capri, its next EVs will be developed and built by Renault in northern France.
Although Renault will engineer the upcoming electric vehicles, Ford claims the cars will have “authentic Ford-brand DNA” and “distinctive driving dynamics.” These future models will ride on the Ampere platform, with the first of two vehicles scheduled to arrive in early 2028.
Neither Ford nor Renault is revealing the identities of these models, but given the platform choice, they’ll be on the smaller side. The AmpR Small architecture underpins the Twingo, Renault 4, Renault 5, Alpine A290, and Nissan Micra. AmpR Medium serves as the basis for the electric Megane, Scenic, Alpine A390, and Nissan Ariya.
Since Ford says it will put real effort into differentiating its models from their Renault counterparts, expect more changes than what Nissan applied to the Micra, which is essentially a rebadged R5. If one of the two EVs is a hatchback arriving in roughly 24 months, the other could be a crossover based on the R4.
Whatever shape they take, these Renault-based models won’t be direct replacements for Ford’s defunct passenger cars. The Ka, Fiesta, Focus, and Mondeo were combustion-powered, whereas these future vehicles will be pure EVs. As a result, they’ll be more expensive than similarly sized ICE cars, meaning Ford can’t realistically expect to regain the market share it has lost over the past 20 years.
Logic suggests profit margins won’t be high, given that Ford is asking Renault to handle the heavy lifting. EVs also remain significantly costlier to build than comparable combustion models. On the upside, the agreement helps Ford accelerate new model launches and maintain a foothold in Europe’s fiercely competitive market.
In related news, the two companies are also joining forces on light commercial vehicles. To that end, Ford and Renault have signed a letter of intent to jointly develop and manufacture small vans.
2026 Renault Twingo E-Tech Electric
