PARIS — Alpine is now a distinct segment model inside Renault Group, with only one mannequin, the low-volume A110 sports car. However new CEO Luca de Meo has ambitions for Alpine to turn out to be the spine of Renault’s sportier fashions in addition to the hub of its racing groups.
De Meo has loosely compared Alpine to Ferrari, which has prior to now used manufacturing fashions to finance a racing workforce.
“I’d give Alpine a goal of growing a line of merchandise, perhaps primarily based on Renaults, with the goal to interrupt even and to pay for racing and all of the actions inside the Alpine world,” he stated in an expansive interview with Automotive Information Europe.
De Meo has already given Alpine autonomy in his new construction for the group, which focuses on manufacturers as a substitute of areas, and put it below the non permanent oversight of Renault Sport racing boss Cyril Abiteboul. He may even rebrand Renault’s Formula One team as Alpine, and plans to enter the Le Mans endurance race with an Alpine workforce.
De Meo stated future efficiency variations and trim ranges for Renault fashions may very well be given the Alpine title, much like Abarth at Fiat. De Meo is a former CEO of the Fiat model, and was instrumental within the launch of the five hundred minicar, which has had a lot of Abarth-branded high-performance variations.
One among de Meo’s plans to revive Renault to profitability is to enhance pricing, partly by promoting vehicles with greater trim ranges, and he believes that sports-oriented trims akin to Audi’s S line are what patrons need.
“My expertise is that tools ranges which have a extra dynamic, sporty look are extra well-liked available in the market, akin to PSA’s GT Line. So I feel we have to go in that route,” he stated. “An Alpine line may very well be a approach for us to make sure that we have now 25, 30 p.c of the combo on the upper tools ranges, the place you generate income.
Renault has provided high-performance avenue vehicles developed and constructed by Renault Sport — at present solely the 300 hp Megane R.S. — and there’s a largely beauty R.S. Line trim on a lot of fashions.
De Meo’s plans for Alpine mirror the model’s beginnings. Alpine was began within the Fifties by Jean Redele, a storage proprietor in Dieppe, France, starting with modifying Renault fashions after which producing its personal sports activities and racing vehicles into the mid-Nineties. Renault took management of Alpine within the early Seventies.
The model was revived below former Renault Group CEO Carlos Ghosn, and the retro-styled new A110 was launched in 2017.
De Meo praised Renault Sport’s technical experience, in addition to the small manufacturing unit in Dieppe that now builds solely the Alpine A110, however prior to now has assembled Renault Sport fashions. Final 12 months 4,245 A110s had been constructed there.
“It’s very versatile, very able to doing craftsmanship and work much like the M division at BMW or Neckarsulm at Audi (the manufacturing unit that builds the R8 supercar) or AMG,” he stated.
De Meo emphasised that Alpine is a piece in progress.
“I do know that Alpine has potential, perhaps to not compete with the German premium manufacturers but it surely’s a enterprise alternative,” he stated. “You possibly can argue that Alpine is a comparatively unknown model, but it surely actually has the pedigree and the heritage.”