by Gilles Guillaume

PARIS (Reuters) – Alpine, Renault’s new sports brand, unveiled the A290 on Thursday, the first in a new family of electric sports cars intended to gain notoriety and take advantage of a market that is resisting the current slowdown in vehicles battery powered.

As part of his recovery strategy presented in 2021, the general director of Renault Group, Luca de Meo, made Alpine a full-fledged unit bringing together all the sports activities of the group in the diamond, in order to fully exploit the synergies and develop a “dream garage” of exclusive 100% electric sports models.

The objective is to establish itself in a premium electric market which is doing well in the context of the current slowdown in demand for battery-powered vehicles: since the start of the year in the European Union, electric remains stable at around 17% of the premium market, while losing ground in the overall automotive market, falling to around 12% market share, compared to around 14% in 2023, according to data from S&P Global Mobility .

In the total electric market, premium represented 25.3% in 2023, a weight which has risen to 29.3% since the start of 2024.

“Premium, whether electric or not, always resists better,” comments Flavien Neuvy, head of the Cetelem Observatory. “The end of aid in Germany, for example, penalizes the electricity market, but premium is less impacted because customers with more assistance have less need for aid.”

Electric engines also make it possible to reduce average CO2 emissions in vehicle ranges particularly exposed to tougher regulations.

The sporty top of the range is embodied by prestigious names like Porsche, cited as a reference by Luca de Meo, Ferrari, from which the current general director of Alpine comes, or even Aston Martin. But Alpine remains more affordable than these three brands and rather targets competitors like Tesla, BMW, Mercedes or Audi (Volkswagen group).

The 2024 catalog gives 65,000 euros as the starting price for the A110, while the new A290 will be offered from 38,000 euros.

“Alpine must make it possible to cover segments and markets in which the group’s two other brands, Renault and Dacia, are not present,” explains Denis Schemoul, analyst at S&P Global Mobility.

The electric premium whets other appetites, such as those of Cadillac (General Motors).

TWO-DIGIT MARGIN OBJECTIVE

Currently confined to a single petrol model, the A110 Berlinette, since the relaunch in 2017 of the brand, world rally champion in 1973, Alpine wants to move from a niche segment to a complete and global offering to play a key role in the improvement in the manufacturer’s profitability and in its geographic expansion beyond Europe.

The ambition is to found a real family of 7 electric models by 2030: after the A290, a city car derived from the R5 and designed to appeal to a wider audience, Alpine will launch a compact GT crossover next year, end 2026 a new A110 – electric this time – on a dedicated platform, APP. A convertible version, a larger sports coupe, the A310, and two even larger cars will follow by 2030.

Alpine only sold 4,328 vehicles last year, mainly in Europe, but hopes to escape this confidentiality thanks to the extension of its range. Luca de Meo is targeting a turnover of two billion euros for the division in 2026 and more than eight billion euros in 2030, half generated outside Europe, as well as an operating margin of 10% at this horizon.

The brand hopes in particular to attract Asia and the United States. She is counting on her presence in Formula One for this, even if she has had a difficult season so far.

Beyond pure electric, it is also working on a large V6 hydrogen combustion engine for possible particularly sporty or high-end versions.

Already very well known in Japan, Alpine also sees potential in South Korea as well as in China, a market where it estimates it can achieve a billion euros in turnover by the end of the decade.

AN EX-FERRARI AT HIS HEAD

The brand, which remains very far from the 330,600 100% electric models sold last year by BMW, the 222,600 from Mercedes or the 178,000 from Audi, according to figures compiled by the German magazine Auto Zeitung, named less than a year ago a year at its head Philippe Krief, expert in the development of sports and high-end car ranges, who trained at Ferrari.

Alpine will also field two hypercars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the premier endurance event, the 92nd edition of which will take place this weekend and on the sidelines of which the A290 was publicly unveiled.

Faithful to the pragmatism of the brand’s founder, the pilot and designer Jean Rédélé who in the 1950s transformed a simple Renault 4CV into a small car, designed for the winding roads of the Alps, the A290 uses the AMPR-Small architecture and the lines of the new R5, but in supercharged mode.

And for customers who miss the hoarse and crackling sound of a sports thermal engine, the car, which will be marketed at the end of the year, offers the possibility of hearing a more sonorous and muffled version of the turbine noise in the cabin. characteristic of the electric, thanks to work with the French high-end sound specialist Devialet, in order to improve the sensations of driving at high speed.

(Report by Gilles Guillaume, with Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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