ALPINE AT THE FOREFRONT OF GROUPE RENAULT'S INNOVATION WITH NEW GENERATION OF EXCLUSIVE SPORTS CARS
* Alpine cars, Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing join forces under the Alpine flagship brand
* The new entity will combine high-tech excellence and passion for racing to develop high-performance, authentic and exclusive sports cars
* The brand will combine unique engineering expertise from Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing, manufacturing facility in Dieppe, Formula One exposure and the Alpine brand legacy
* Agreement signed with Lotus - leader in lightweight, iconic sports cars - to develop a next generation EV sports car
* Plans to develop 100% electric, high-tech line-up offering features derived directly from Formula One
* Alpine will benefit from availability of Groupe Renault and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance assets for most competitive costs
* Alpine set to be profitable by 2025, including investment in motorsport
Alpine has announced its plans for long-term growth as Groupe Renault's dedicated brand to innovative, authentic and exclusive sports cars.
Current operations of Alpine cars, Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing will be united as one entity under the Alpine name. Alpine will bring together the credibility of a respected brand, specialised manufacturing, engineering expertise and considerable exposure from Formula One.
Together, they set the foundations to take Alpine to a different league. The newly created Alpine business will be a "new generation" automotive brand for discerning, passionate early adopters.
Current strengths and new synergies for new challenges
Alpine represents the epitome of French motoring, building on remarkable victories throughout its history - a brand with heritage and pedigree. It is also a factory with highly skilled specialists manufacturing the A110 in Dieppe.
Renault Sport Cars comprises a team of 300 experts developing sports cars. They have provided Groupe Renault with iconic products such as the R5 Turbo, Clio V6, Megane R.S. Trophy and the new Alpine A110.
Renault Sport Racing, with its eponymous F1 team, employs 1,200 people who develop what are described as the "grand complication watches of motorsport" with some of the best aerodynamicists, mechanics and powertrain engineers. F1 is also a huge marketing platform with half a billion fans worldwide, representing a unique opportunity to enhance Alpine's branding globally.
Alpine will also take advantage of the scale and capabilities of Groupe Renault and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, including technology with the Alliance's own EV platform, global manufacturing capabilities, a powerful purchasing arm ensuring optimum cost competitiveness, a global distribution network and RCI financial services. The objective is to be profitable in 2025 including investment in motorsport.
Alpine's 100% electric dream garage
The new organisational structure, the increase in technological sharing across Groupe Renault and the Alliance, plus the collaboration with selected partners will be instrumental to support Alpine's future product plan:
- A 100% electric B-segment hot hatchback based on the Alliance CMF-B EV platform
- A 100% electric C-segment sports crossover based on the Alliance CMF-EV platform
- A 100% EV replacement of the A110 developed with Lotus
As part of the Alpine Business Unit development, Groupe Renault and Lotus Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to outline a number of areas of cooperation, including the joint development of an EV sports car. The Alpine and Lotus teams will conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the joint engineering, design and development of an EV sports car by leveraging the resources, expertise and facilities of the respective entities in both France and the UK.
Alpine's next product generation will make use of Groupe Renault's latest innovations and will benefit from Formula One technology and expertise: efficient energy management, safety systems and connectivity solutions derived from Formula One's high-performance in data analysis and processing that will bring a significant competitive advantage to the Alpine products.
Laurent Rossi, CEO Alpine, said: "The new Alpine entity takes three brands with separate assets and areas of excellence to turn them into an empowered, fully-fledged business. The craftsmanship from our plant in Dieppe, the engineering mastery from our Formula One and Renault Sport teams will shine through our tech-infused, 100% electric line-up, taking the beautiful Alpine name to the future. We'll be on the tracks and on the roads, authentic and high-tech, disruptive & passionate".
Continuation of racing
Alpine and Renault have a long racing history with successes in different categories, be it in Formula One, rally or Endurance. Competition will remain at the core of Alpine's ambitious plans, with Formula One being central to the brand's motorsports strategy.
From 2021 the Alpine F1 team will be racing against some of the most prestigious names in the automotive industry and will enter the very exclusive club of fully-fledged factory teams.
Antony Villain, Alpine Design Director, said: "Giving a powerful and specific identity to Formula One, but also to the entire Alpine motorsport programme, is an evidence and an opportunity. With motorsport at the heart of our process, the graphic identity is key. The livery presented today is the first evocation of the Alpine F1 team's new identity. Some of the structural graphic elements will remain on the racing livery while others will change. The 'oversized' Alpine emblem in a tricolour graphic system is the first clear-cut symbol of the brand's identity in motorsport. The blue, white and red refer to the colours of the French and British flags, which is very important to us. Numerous variations on all the motorsport assets are still to come."
A brand born from competition, for competition
Alpine was founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, a young man passionate about competition. He named his company after his favorite playground for racing: the Alps.
When the original A110 road car was introduced in 1962, the company had taken off. By then, Alpine and Renault were close collaborators, with Alpine cars sold and serviced by Renault dealerships. By the early seventies, Alpine was a major force in top-flight rally competition.
In 1971 Alpine took the three steps on the podium of the world famous Rallye Monte Carlo for the first time, then again in 1973. The company went on to win the World Rally Championship Manufacturers' title later that year.
At the same time Alpine's road car sales were growing. Alpine built a dedicated factory in Dieppe in 1969 - the same site that produces the all-new A110 today - and in 1971 the A310 entered production. Two years later, Alpine was acquired by Groupe Renault.
Alpine achieved its most famous motorsport triumph in 1978; overall victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The factory continued to release new and innovative road cars throughout the seventies and eighties, including the A310 V6 and the GTA. Alpine production would eventually cease in 1995.
In 2018, the brand presented the new A110, a sports car faithful to Alpine's timeless principles of compactness, lightness, agility and driving pleasure.
In 2021, Alpine Cars, Renault Sport Cars and Renault Sport Racing join forces under the Alpine flagship, becoming the brand dedicated to innovative, authentic, exclusive sports cars of Groupe Renault, benefiting from the heritage and craftmanship of its historic plant in Dieppe, as well as the engineering mastery from the Formula One and Renault Sport teams.
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