An update on the future of Alpine: the Renault group’s new global brand

Illustration of the Alpine A11E by independent designer Gerardo Iorio: see https://www.behance.net

Last November, the Renault group unveiled the third part of its Renaulution plan with the creation of five units specialising in new value chains. Among them, Ampere will group together, develop and market all the 100% electric models, excluding the Alpine. These will be the next Renault 5, Renault 4 crossover and LCV, the Scénic E-TECH and “two other vehicles to come”, according to the press release. These will therefore be exclusively Renault vehicles.

The next 100% electric Scénic will be sold under the Renault brand and is one of the next six models of the Ampere entity

Among the five autonomous entities, in addition to Ampere, there will be one called Power, which will be concerned solely with the development of powertrains and hybrid thermal models. Because, according to the manufacturer, “these vehicles will still account for up to 50% of global passenger car sales even by 2040. That is, five years after Europe has banned the sale of vehicles with more than zero emissions.

The Renault Austral is the other side of the Renault world: thermal and hybrid, and therefore independent of the Ampere entity which only concerns the group’s 100% electric models

The Renault group is joining forces with China’s Geely to combine their internal combustion engines in a 50-50 entity. “This dedicated business will design, develop, produce and sell internal combustion and hybrid powertrain components and systems with state-of-the-art technologies. From day one, this entity will generate a turnover of more than 15 billion euros with a volume of 5 million units per year. For the long term, Renault has not put all its eggs in the electric basket, but the combustion basket is now shared with Gelly…

The CMF-C/D platform of the upcoming Austral and Espace does not accept 100% electric but thermal hybridisation. No Alpine will use it.

Finally, the entity that interests us today is the one that simply bears the name of the Alpine brand. Thus, Luca de Meo renews his confidence in Alpine’s worldwide development strategy towards 100% electric cars. Of course, Alpine is not alone in its corner. “Being part of the Renault group ensures access to Ampere’s electric technology and software assets. Alpine will expand globally, with half of its future growth outside Europe, through commercial partnerships and investor support. And while we’re on the subject of sales, and global sales (half of all Alpines will be sold outside Europe, which is no small feat), let’s talk product.

Illustration of the Alpine A4810 designed by Apoorv Garg : to be found on https://www.behance.net

The Renaulution plan had unveiled the first three models of the 100% electric brand: the R5 Alpine, the GT crossover and the A110 replacement. The first is a derivative of the 2024 R5 all-electric, the second is likely to be based on the Nissan Ariya platform, while the third will share its underpinnings with Lotus.

Illustration of the Alpine A11E by independent designer Gerardo Iorio: see https://www.behance.net

However, it is not these three vehicles that will enable Alpine to achieve its global objectives. In November last year, two other silhouettes were announced: “Alpine is developing a brand new range that will support its growth and international ambitions and will be fully electric from 2026. From 2027, “Alpine plans to launch two vehicles with advanced technologies in the D – 2027- and E – 2028- segments to support its international expansion. Thus, half of Alpine’s growth will come from new markets beyond Europe, potentially including North America and China.”

The two future Alpine Crossovers in the E and D segments (2027-2028) will be electric and will target the US and Chinese markets.

These two crossovers, planned largely for the North American and Chinese markets, and moreover in the D and E segments (the two highest segments), will undoubtedly chip away at the brand’s lightness DNA. But the commitment made by Luca de Meo in 2021 to make Alpine a real brand, imposes the choice of these last two silhouettes more likely to make the investments profitable. However, knowing that the brand has displayed its worldwide ambitions since the end of 2022, one can wonder about the desire to make it an exclusively electric brand in the face of its competitors, notably American and Chinese, who continue to invest in combustion engines. Among them, Gelly, which is now 50% of the Renault group’s Power entity but to which Alpine will theoretically not have access…

Next Post

Le point sur le futur d'Alpine : la nouvelle marque mondiale du groupe Renault

En novembre dernier, le groupe Renault a dévoilé le 3e volet de son plan Renaulution avec la création de 5 unités spécialisées sur les nouvelles chaînes de valeurs. Parmi elles, Ampere regroupera, développera et commercialisera tous les modèles 100% électriques, hors Alpine. Il s’agira donc des prochaines Renault 5, Renault […]

Subscribe US Now