Alpine boss: Convertible Boxster rival "logical"

Renault's relaunched Alpine brand will offer more than one variant based on its two-seat A120 sports car following its launch in 2017.

Set to be priced around $75,000-$90,000 Down Under, the A120 coupe will eventually arrive next year and Alpine boss Michael van der Sande has previously admitted to journalists, back in August, that the French car-maker would introduce more models as soon as the mid-engine coupe had launched.

Back then van der Sande said that "six-or seven" different vehicles were being considered and confirmed that one of them will be an SUV -- that he described as "inevitable".

Now, according to Autocar, the first two-seat coupe will be followed shortly after by both a convertible version and a hard-core performance-orientated version of the standard coupe.

As well as the roadster, which will be a natural rival for cars like the Audi TT and Porsche Boxster, the Brit mag says other vehicles will follow but the challenge within Alpine is all of them must be based on the A120 mid-engine/rear-wheel drive architecture, which could limit what's feasible.

Alpine hasn't yet officially confirmed what will power the A120, although it's thought it will come with a new mid-mounted 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine developed by Renaultsport that should generate up to 225kW and most likely be matched only to a dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Combined with a kerb weight of less than 1100kg, Renault has promised the rear-drive coupe will hit 100km/h in less than 4.5sec.

Speaking to the Brit mag, van der Sande said that all future Alpines would also be lightweight and agile to drive and hinted that future models would feature aluminium body panels.

Confirming that the spots car maker had an internal sales target of "single thousands" for the first models, it's thought that around 5000 to 7000 global sales will help keep Renault's high-performance sub-brand sustainable.

Describing an A120-based convertible as "logical", van der Sande ruled out lending the Alpine name back to Renault for a high-performance trim or model variant. Instead, he said, Renaultsport will continue in that role.

Finally, the new boss of the famous reborn French brand said that the firm's first sports car will not sacrifice comfort by being reasonably spacious and easy to get in and out of.

Van der Sande told Autocar that Alpine will reveal more information on the A120 "within a couple of months".