A French pride that will soon no longer be produced in France? According to sources familiar with the case, the Alpine A110 currently being produced at Dieppe, the historic factory of the French sports brand of the Renault group, could be produced by Lotus in Norfolk (Eastern England). This move would take place during the renewal of the model planned between 2025 and 2026, which will be 100% electric.
The ultra-sporty British brand had already been chosen, in collaboration with the French group, to develop the new chassis for the future French “berlinetta”, the historic nickname of the Alpine A110. Lotus, a subsidiary of the Chinese group Geely, has just unveiled Eletre, an electric SUV. It is this model that should enable him to ensure his electrical transition.
Two other models made in France
The Dieppe plant will be tasked with producing an electric SUV still under the Alpine brand, in accordance with announcements made on January 28 during the visit of French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire. The future Alpine compact, which will be a derivative of the future Renault R5, will in turn be produced in Douai in Hauts-de-France.
Renault has been contacted and declined to comment on this information. Another internal source admitted that it was indeed a hypothesis, but no decision had been made yet. The successor to the A110 is not expected before 2025, but the demand for its production is already rising.
Resurrected in 2012, under the impulse of Carlos Tavares, when the number two Renault group, the brand Alpine occupies an important place in the Renaulution plan (from the name of the group’s recovery strategy, initiated by Luca de Meo), which aims for strong unit margins.
A solid upmarket strategy
The Italian leader has already proven in the past to be very attached to these high-end label strategies. At Fiat he had revived Abarth and at Seat he had created Cupra. When he arrived at Renault, he immediately saw Alpine’s potential to create value. He had also announced that Alpine will now wear the group’s colors in Formula 1 to increase Alpine’s notoriety and legitimacy. In addition, Luca de Meo has just launched an “Alpine Spirit” finish on the Austral, its new C-segment SUV, which is to replace the Kadjar. The ambition here is to represent the highest quality finish of this new model.
Alpine derives its Premium capital from the story of a famous pilot, Jean Rédélé (who died in 2007). He had founded his own brand in 1955, mainly to participate in car rallies. The first A110 was produced in partnership with Renault in Dieppe – where the pilot came from, between 1962 and 1977 – for a total of less than 8,000 units. The A110 had been World Rally Champion in 1971 and 1973.
