Alpine wants to become ‘mini Ferrari’, focus on electric cars

The future of the Alpine brand is becoming clearer – and that future is also looking increasingly electrified.

Already Alpine owner Renault has confirmed it will provide the brand for the company’s Formula 1 team.

The Alpine F1 Team will replace the familiar Renault yellow from 2021, in the process exposing the name (most familiar with rallying in the 1970s) to tens of millions of people.

“By introducing Alpine, a symbol of French excellence, to the most prestigious of the world’s automotive disciplines, we are continuing the adventure of manufacturers in a renewed sport,” said recently-appointed Groupe Renault CEO Luca de Meo last month.

Now de Meo has told international media that he wants Alpine to become “a mini Ferrari”, leveraging its F1 involvement to create a range of highly-desirable performance cars.

“The temptation is to say let’s stop this, let’s stop that,” he said, referencing the financial position of Renault.

“But what I saw was the possibility to bring these things together and create, if you’ll allow me the poetic licence, a mini Ferrari, putting Formula 1 at the centre of a business ecosystem and creating a brand which has motorsport, engineering, production and distribution.”

Of course, plenty of brands have aspired to tackle Ferrari – including British F1 rival McLaren – and most have failed or at the very least made very little impact on what is one of the world’s most recognisable and aspirational automotive brands. And Ferrari is hardly standing still, the SF90 Stradale an indication of Ferrari’s electric future.

As part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, Renault – and, therefore, Alpine – would have access to technology and components used on brands from others within the alliance.

There are some potential synergies, such as the next generation Nissan GT-R supercar – which could employ hybrid tech – and other upcoming EVs from Renault.

Bloomberg also reported that de Meo has told staff he wants to create a “Porsche 911 program”, whereby a sports car model spawns a family. The 911 range is typically updated every few months with new body styles (such as a convertible or Targa) and new performance variants (such as Turbo and GT3) to keep it fresh over its model cycle.

De Meo also wants a range of EVs and to “add emotion” into Renault’s electric car lineup, which is set to include a crossover SUV based on the next generation Megane hatchback. It was previewed this month as the Megane eVision concept.

He told British publication Auto Express that the Alpine brand would spread across some high performance Renault models.

“I will find a point of contact between the Alpine brand and some Renault models,” de Meo told Auto Express.

That seems to suggest that Alpine could be the headline over the Renaultsport (or RS) brand that has been used on recent Renault hot hatches, such as the Clio RS and Megane RS.

“We have to stop with the nostalgia on Alpine and use Alpine as an opportunity to project ourselves into the future, when it comes to distribution, technology, electric cars, etc.”

He also said the A110 – currently the only Alpine on sale, albeit in extremely low numbers – could one day be a battery electric vehicle.

“Maybe we can turn the car one day to an electric version if we manage to solve the business case if we maybe find a partner,” he said. “One of the missions we could give to Alpine is to make the electric car experience emotional and thrilling – we have a couple of idea.”