Renault confirms flame still burns for Alpine revival

French car maker Renault has given the clearest indication yet that it is close to relaunching its high-performance brand, Alpine.

Renault revealed the stunning Alpine A110-50 concept car at the 2012 Monaco F1 GP, igniting speculation it would revive the iconic sports car brand.

Speaking at Renault’s Flains, France, manufacturing facility factory, on the eve of the Paris motor show, Renault brand director Christian Pouillaude all but confirmed Alpine’s revival.

“It is a current project and (its launch) is under discussion (as) our fourth brand,” Mr. Pouillaude said.

He added that Alpine cars would make use of materials such as aluminium to reduce weight, with the aim of rivaling the world’s best sports cars.

“We are thinking of relaunching Alpine, to rival Porsche and Lamborghini… (it will be) a lightweight car but not that expensive.”

The Renault executive hinted, however, that the company was grappling with where to place Alpine in relation to other sports car brands already in the market.

He confirmed Renault was looking at technical partners to help develop the various elements of the high performance model, but ruled out alliances with mainstream car makers. Motorsport specialists and even F1 teams remain obvious possibilities.

Renault has had a long association with the Alpine brand, which was initially an independent tuner that modified its cars, but which was eventually taken over by the Renault, which launched the Alpine GTA in 1986. The A610 coupe was the last Renault car to wear the Alpine name, it was discontinued in 1995.

Renault Australia’s managing director, Justin Hocevar, told
motoring.com.au there was a huge passion for the Alpine brand within the company.

“Alpine represents so much within Renault – heritage, further affirmation of our strengths in motorsport – it’s a wonderful brand that obviously a lot of people are passionate about resurrecting, and we’d be very supportive of that,” Mr. Hocevar said.

“We have provided feedback already that anything they do with the brand we’re very interested in.”

He explained that the Alpine A110-50 concept car was a major undertaking and that some of Renault’s top brass were motorsport enthusiasts who favour the launch of a new, halo sports car brand.

“We know the development of that concept car was quite a big investment. It wasn’t just something they wheeled out and took photos of. It was fully operational.

“Even Carlos Tavares (Renault's Chief Operating Officer) is a keen motorsport enthusiast, so we can only hope that all of those people that are passionate about resurrecting (Alpine) get their proposal across the line,” Mr. Hocevar said.

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