VW and Renault pull plug on electric Twingo, Renault says

(Reuters) -French carmaker Renault and its German peer Volkswagen have ended talks to jointly develop an affordable electric version of the Twingo, Renault CEO Luca de Meo told Reuters on Wednesday.

"I wanted to show that European industry could work together as a team, so I think this is a lost opportunity, but there may be others," De Meo said on the sidelines of the VivaTech summit in Paris, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

Volkswagen declined to comment.

A partnership between Volkswagen and Renault would have brought together household names from the euro zone's top two economies and formed a counterweight to Asian rivals muscling into the European market.

The collapse of negotiations could mean the German carmaker may have to go it alone in developing its own affordable electric vehicle. Renault will continue designing its electric Twingo, scheduled to hit the market in 2026.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Addition reporting by Christina Amann; Writing by Augustin Turpin; Editing by Tassilo Hummel and Mark Potter)