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<\/a><\/p>\nRenault-owned French brand is betting big on its potential to become a credible premium player<\/p>\n
When Renault<\/a> Group CEO Luca de Meo walked in through the door of the Covid-wounded company in 2020, premium sports car brand Alpine<\/a> had its neck on the chopping block.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had no plan after the A110<\/a>; there was no plan for Alpine, basically,\u201d de Meo told journalists at the recent unveiling of the A390<\/a>.<\/p>\n But de Meo saw Alpine as an important margin-boosting premium asset\u00a0so\u00a0set in motion a revival \u2013 similar to what he did with\u00a0Abarth<\/a> while at the FCA Group\u00a0and\u00a0Cupra<\/a>\u00a0while at the Volkswagen Group.<\/p>\n The plan was agreed while Renault was still haemorrhaging millions. \u201cIt was a bit of a crazy thing,” de Meo\u00a0admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now Alpine\u2019s one-car line-up has been bolstered by the A290<\/a>, a hot\u00a0version of the Renault 5<\/a>,\u00a0and the new A390, a crossover based on the Renault Scenic<\/a>\u00a0platform but given a wallop of power and intriguing handling prospects from three electric motors.<\/p>\n After that,\u00a0however, Alpine will dive headlong into the murky\u00a0world of electric sports cars, where customers and profits are mere rumours rather than quantifiable fact. Can the brand really survive a lengthy period of capital-intensive adventuring into the unknown?\u00a0<\/p>\n De Meo is unshakeable even as he admits the scale of the job to create a credible rival to the likes of Porsche<\/a>. \u201cTo launch a premium brand, you need 20 years, minimum,\u201d he said. \u201cIt took Audi<\/a> 25-30 years to be in the club \u2013\u00a0and every year\u00a0billions and billions of investment. We’re not going to\u00a0do that in one generation.\u201d<\/p>\n Renault doesn\u2019t have billions of billions to spend on Alpine and, perhaps more damagingly, the brand\u2019s formative years will be spent in a very different world to the relatively benign place that Audi ultimately flourished in.\u00a0<\/p>\n For one thing, the vast US premium car market is as good as off-limits for newcomers right now, and Alpine has put on ice plans for two bigger electric SUVs that were going to spearhead its launch there.<\/p>\n A single large SUV is still nominally in the pipeline, but it depends on a more welcoming US.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe business case flies with the US, because [the US is]\u00a040% of the market\u00a0in [the E-segment]. So until we have it clearly, it’s a bit risky for us to push the button,\u201d de Meo said.<\/p>\n It also means sourcing a platform from outside Renault \u2013\u00a0likely Chinese\u00a0partner firm\u00a0Geely.<\/p>\n The other global market that welcomed Audi was China, but that too has become a shark tank as local players prey on global incumbents and even each other in a merciless price war.\u00a0Would Alpine launch there? \u201cMaybe…\u201d CEO Philippe Krief replied\u00a0with a very Gallic shrug.\u00a0<\/p>\n Krief has plenty of experience in the fickle premium sector after spells at Ferrari<\/a>, Maserati<\/a> and Alfa Romeo<\/a>, and he knows that Alpine has work to do. Right now, the brand has barely left its home country.<\/p>\n “Two thirds of our sales are in France,” said Krief.\u00a0“We need to learn to sell cars to Germany, to the UK, to Korea –\u00a0markets that are really premium markets.\u00a0And then we will go to the US.\u201d<\/p>\n The first ‘Atelier Alpine’\u00a0showcase store will open in Barcelona this month, followed by Paris and London later in the year.<\/p>\n Alpine has already doubled its sales this year (to the end of April), thanks to the A290. Sales of the A110 hit 4585 last year, up 5.9%, but the sports car is essentially winding down before bowing out early next year.<\/p>\n Given the model’s status as\u00a0“the [Porsche] 911<\/a> of Alpine”, in the words of de Meo,\u00a0all eyes are now on the electric A110<\/a>, which is due to be revealed at the 2026 Paris motor show<\/a>.<\/p>\n The A110 traces its roots back to the first rally-bred, lightweight coup\u00e9s\u00a0based on the humble Renault 4CV, starting in 1955, and those early Alpines are heavily referenced in the current designs.<\/p>\n The current A110, launched in 2018, has done enough to keep the name alive and enthusiast interest stoked. The hard part now comes with the electric version.<\/p>\n What persuaded de Meo that the plan might work was that all his premium rivals were in the same boat. Regulations meant that, in Europe at least, everyone would have\u00a0to make the shift.<\/p>\n \u201cThe transition to electric vehicles is an opportunity to say, on that kind of technology, more or less, we are on par with the others,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a 100-year gap.\u201d<\/p>\n De Meo also has a happy knack of understanding customer desires and concerns. \u201cIn the beginning, electric cars were kind of ugly, kind of unemotional,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe we can prove that electric car technology can actually be fun, that we can put the soul in a washing machine.\u201d<\/p>\n Firstly, we\u2019re promised that new models based on the Alpine Performance Platform (APP) will weigh less than ICE rivals such as the Porsche Boxster<\/a>, if not the outgoing lightweight aluminium-bodied A110 (a flyweight at 1102kg).<\/p>\n Secondly, Alpine will pioneer\u00a0in-wheel motors<\/a>, a potentially game-changing technology that lowers the centre of gravity and frees up room for luxuries like luggage and even rear passengers with the promised 2+2 version.<\/p>\n They can also instantly deliver power to the wheel with the most grip, promising new handling agility. And they can allow the energy-dense batteries to be packaged somewhere other than under the front occupants, giving a more sports car-like driving position.<\/p>\n And thirdly, the platform will have an 800V electrical system to enable ultra-fast charging, negating some range anxiety.<\/p>\n The APP will make\u00a0its debut underneath the\u00a0bonkers Renault 5 Turbo 3E<\/a>,\u00a0a \u00a3135,000 electric hyper-hatchback that’s due in limited production next year and produces a claimed 3540 lb ft of torque from its in-wheel motors.<\/p>\n None of this \u2018dream garage\u2019 that Alpine is assembling is going to be high-volume. It won\u2019t talk numbers, but given that the A390 is assembled at the same low-volume Dieppe plant as the A110, annual capacity will be 12,000 at best.<\/p>\n The A290 is better placed, with slots in Renault\u2019s vast ElectriCity plant in Douai and a starting price of \u00a333,500 instead of an estimated \u00a360,000 for the A390.<\/p>\n But essentially Alpine is currently in the \u2018notice me!\u2019 phase. This is the brand-building slog to catch the eye of the premium buyer, which in Europe is heavily wedded to BMW, Mercedes-Benz<\/a> and Audi with forays into Land Rover<\/a>\u00a0and Volvo<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n De Meo isn’t scrimping on the marketing side of the Alpine revival, having renamed Renault’s Formula 1 team to Alpine and batting back any suggestion of selling it, despite a run of poor results; and making Alpine a key player in the World Endurance Championship with the A424 hypercar. \u201cAt the core of Alpine is competition activity,” he said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.globalvillagespace.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/alpines-bold-roadmap-aiming-to-challenge-porsche-in-the-electric-era-1.jpg\")
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