In recent years, the once dormant French car brand Alpine has made a resurgence. For the last six years, it’s only had one car to its name, but that’s going to change significantly over the next few years.
Today, Alpine (pronounced al-PEEN) is effectively the motorsport and performance car division of Renault – a bit like Abarth is to Fiat. Renault’s racing programmes – most notably its Formula One team – have been rebranded as Alpine, and a range of performance cars is said to be on the way.
So who or what is Alpine?
Alpine was founded in France in 1954 by Jean Rédélé, who was a garage owner in Dieppe and successful in racing and rallying. His cars were extensively modified Renaults, and his motorsport efforts even extended to competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Encouraged by his success, Rédélé created the Alpine brand, named after the Coupe des Alpes road rally in which he had achieved multiple wins. He was unaware that, just a year earlier in the UK, Sunbeam had launched a model called the Alpine (although, being English, it was pronounced AL-pine). This caused issues for many years.
The first proper Alpine model launched in 1955 was the A106 coupe, which placed a lightweight body on a Renault chassis. The car proved highly successful in motorsport and later spawned a cabriolet version.
The A108 coupe launched in 1958, and by now Alpine’s official connections to Renault were growing. The A110 coupé of 1962 was also very successful in rallying and, by 1968, Alpine cars were being sold in Renault dealerships. The company also became the de facto Renault competition team, winning the 1973 World Rally Championship outright.
Alpine was badly affected by the international oil crisis and salvation came in the form of a takeover by Renault. The company continued to develop sports road and racing cars, focusing more on track success. Renault also took over specialist tuner Gordini and merged it with Alpine to form Renault Sport, which won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1978 and competed in F1 from 1977 to 1985.
Renault-Alpine road cars continued to be sold through the 1980s and 1990s, culminating in the A610. But the last car was made in 1995 as Renault dropped the Alpine badge – the market for such cars was getting too difficult.
Incidentally, no Alpine models had ever officially been sold in the UK at this point due to the Sunbeam trademark – instead they were generally known as Renault Gordinis.
When did Alpine launch in the UK?
The revival of Alpine was a drawn-out process. Renault’s post-millennium future model plans included a desire for several sports cars and in 2007 it was revealed that the first one – a two-seater mid-engined car that was intended to launch in 2010 – could well be badged Alpine. However, the global recession put the plans on hold.
Various concepts followed along with a short-lived partnership with UK small sports car manufacturer Caterham, and not until 2016 was the Alpine Vision concept unveiled, pointing directly to a new Alpine A110 which went on sale in 2017 as the Alpine badge was officially relaunched.
Alpine’s motorsport history remained core to the new brand. In 2021, the Renault sports car and racing divisions were absorbed into a new Alpine division, separate to the main Renault brand. The Renault F1 team, which had come and gone multiple times over the previous 20 years, was also rebranded as Alpine.
What models does Alpine have and what else is coming?
Currently there is just one Alpine model, the A110. It’s a small two-seat coupé with a design directly inspired by the original 1960s A110. It went on UK sale in 2018, and there have been various different versions and limited editions over the last three years.
The A110 has proven a big hit with both buyers and reviewers. It has won many awards around the world and boasts an outstanding score of 87% on The Car Expert‘s industry-leading Expert Rating Index. It’s likely to be with us until 2026, though after 2024 it will be made in more limited numbers due to new European safety regulations – these will require the fitting of active safety cameras and sensors that are too expensive to add to the existing car.
The A110 won’t completely disappear, however, as there is an exemption for low-volume models with less than 1,500 European sales. Meanwhile, Alpine has signed an agreement with Lotus Cars in the UK to develop a successor version of the A110 with an electric drivetrain.
But before that, we will see the first model in a new direction for Alpine. Unveiled as a concept in May 2023, the A290 is a small electric hatchback scheduled for launch in 2024. It is effectively a more potent standalone version of the upcoming Renault 5 hatch, which is also expected on sale in 2024.
The A290 will have two electric motors and an upgraded chassis specially developed by Alpine. Power for top-spec versions are expected to be in the region of 275hp.
Alpine also has plans for more models, with small and large electric SUVs in the works, targeting the US market as the brand seeks a tenfold increase in global sales in the next three years.
Where can I try an Alpine car?
The determination to build Alpine into a specific brand, independent from Renault, is clear in the fact that the cars are not sold through all Renault dealerships, but through a network of specialist dealers. Mind you, several of these outlets are owned by dealer groups that also have franchises for the parent company and the Alpine centre is located close to the Renault one.
In total there are 14 Alpine centres in the UK and Channel Islands, although the brand is growing its European dealer network so more outlets could yet emerge in the UK.
What’s particularly significant about this company?
Alpine has a strong French sporting heritage and, while the forthcoming A290 will be the first Alpine model not manufactured as a dedicated sports car, it’s clear the brand intends to maintain the motorsport image as a core value.
It’s also clear from plans hinted at by company management that future Alpines will move the brand into new parts of the market
Regardless of what size and shape that future cars take, they will always be sports models. Renault’s former RenaultSport (R.S.) performance division has been folded into Alpine, so any future models like previous fan favourites the Clio R.S. and Megane R.S. will (in theory) be branded as Alpines.
It should work similarly to Fiat’s performance brand, Abarth, which sells performance versions of the Fiat 500 as Abarth models.
What makes Alpine different to the rest?
Alpine doesn’t have a headline angle that makes it stand out from the crowd, but trades on a very strong reputation, both for its sporting history and the quality of the one car it has so far launched since the brand’s revival. Its challenge will be to ensure that future models don’t dilute these very strong plus points.
Summary
In recent years the automotive market has produced a growing number of niche brands, most of them courtesy of larger manufacturers wanting to do something a little different to their normal mainstream offerings, and with varying degrees of success.
Still less than a decade old in its current form, Alpine is already more successful than most of these niche badges, thanks to a single model offering that is a very good car.
Currently, though, to own an Alpine is to be very niche, if you have the money something to buy for a fun plaything alongside your day-to-day car. The A290 will move the brand into new territory and into the view of a much wider audience. It will be interesting to see if Alpine can maintain its niche appeal in the mainstream.
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