Alpine to undercut Alfa 4C

There's no word on timing for the local release of Renault's Alpine sports car – expected to be named the A120 Coupe – but Renault Australia MD, Justin Hocevar, has offered a ball-park pricing scenario for the car if/when it arrives here.

"Between $75,000 to $90,000," was the range he suggested to journalists attending the local launch of the new Koleos earlier this week.

"That would seem to be the natural place for it in the market," he said.

According to Hocevar, it's "95 per cent" certain that the sports brand will go on sale here, but what he didn't say was that the timeframe is contingent on finalising the development of the car and a global debut – expected to be in Paris at the end of this month. After that, as we've reported previously, Alpine as a brand will be rolled out around the world from the second quarter of next year.

The projected pricing is hopeful news for Aussies who may have looked at the skyrocketing prices of the original Alpine A110, the car that inspired the new model... and despaired.

Hocevar actually believes that Alpine experts and enthusiasts will be heavily outweighed in this country by those who know nothing about the brand, but know everything about the Alfa 4C and the Toyota 86, at the lower end of the price spectrum.

Admitting that "not many" Aussies have ever heard of Alpine, Hocevar said that the French sports car will be "uniquely Alpine" to distinguish it from either the Alfa or the Toyota.

"There are some fundamentals there but Alpine goes about it in a different way," he said, contrasting the Alpine sports car with the Alfa. The Alpine is understood to be packaged similarly and powered by an engine that closely approximates the Alfa's.

For Renault, establishing the Alpine brand in Australia will be a question of selecting a handful of dealers to carry the brand, Hocevar told motoring.com.au. Not all local Renault dealers will get a crack at selling the Alpine in Australia, he said.