Renault's reborn Alpine looking to expand lineup

Renault has confirmed that the first Alpine-badged car of the 21st century could spawn an entire lineup if it generates a positive response from car shoppers.  Renault is looking to follow the path blazed by Porsche, which started out with the 911 and gradually expanded its lineup over the course of several decades.

"We need to create the 911 of Alpine. Then we can do the Panamera and Cayman. It needs to have all the roots of the brand on which we can build," explained Laurens van den Acker, Renault's head of design, in an interview with enthusiast website PistonHeads.

The yet-unnamed upcoming Alpine that will embody the spirit of the 911 is being developed with England's Caterham and is aimed squarely at the Alfa Romeo 4C and the Porsche Cayman.  Renault did not hint at what the future members of the Alpine lineup will be, but brand will probably expand its sports car offering in all directions before turning its attention to building a crossover or a sedan.

When asked whether or not gunning for Porsche is unrealistic, Axel Breun, the director of Renault's concept car department, quickly pointed out that "no one is untouchable, but it takes a lot of time," indicating that a full-fledged Alpine lineup is not around the corner.  "It took [Porsche] a long time to develop the 911 into something great," he added.

Joint-venture delayed

Scheduled to reach showrooms in 2016, the first Alpine will be a two-seater coupe heavily inspired by the iconic A110 sports car of the 1960s and 1970s.  It is being developed jointly by Renault and by Caterham, but the French automaker has confirmed that forming a joint-venture has been delayed by legal problems caused by shareholders.  Other sources blame the delay on the fact that Caterham has yet to invest a penny into the company.  

Renault has gone to great lengths to promote the return of the Alpine brand and it is too late to quit now.  An anonymous source told France's Les Echos newspaper that the automaker has a plan B in store and will develop the car by itself if Caterham fails to hold up its end of the deal.  

"Regardless of how it's developed the first Alpine will hit showrooms in 2016 and cost slightly less than €50,000," promised project director Bernard Ollivier.