CEO Luca de Moe said that Renault plans to sell cars in the U.S. again in 2027 or 2028, most likely under its sports sub-brand Alpine. De Meow says Alpine is already working on a Tiguan-sized EV SUV for 2025 and two bigger EVs for the American market. Last week, Alpine showed off the A290_ß electric hot-hatch concept car. The A290_ß will be made on the same base as the Renault 5 E.V., which was already shown to the public. At the Financial Times Future of the Car conference in London, De Moe said, “The United States is an opportunity we will look at,” and “If we find an opportunity, most likely with the Alpine brand.” Even though Renault engineer Francois Castling moved to Detroit and became famous for creating cars like the Jeep Cherokee and Chrysler LH, he stayed with Renault., Renault left the United States in 1987 after selling AMC to Chrysler. Alpine is better known in the U.S. because it has been involved in Formula 1. De Mao says that both the A290_ß, which will be released in Europe in 2024, and the more significant E.V. crossover, which will be released in 2025, are too small to sell well in the U.S. He says, “We’re looking at bigger cars because we need them to get into wealthier markets.” De Mao says these bigger Alpine E.V.s will be coupes and SUVs. They will be about the size of a Mercedes-Benz C-Class or E-Class and come out in 2027 or 2028. Alpine’s small, elegant A110 coupe is very fun to drive. Famous grand prix racer and hypercarbia designer Gordon Murray drives one every day. Getting more prominent, making SUVs, and switching to heavier E.V. powertrains are all significant challenges for the company. The A290_ß proposal gives some ideas for how it could be implemented. The A290ß will be 160 inches long and 73 inches wide. It will be built on the innovative single-motor front-drive CMF-EV electric vehicle design that Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi worked on together. Like the Renault 5 E.V., it will be electric. A multi-link rear axle is part of the platform, which makes the ride and control better. When it comes out, the A290_ß is expected to have 215 ph., while the entry-level e-motor for the Renault is expected to have 134 hp. Brembo makes standard brakes, and the suspension has been tweaked with hydraulic bump stops to make the ride smooth and controlled. Torque vectoring will give the same stability when stopping and speeding up as a standard limited-slip differential. The A290 will have a new 52 kWh battery pack lighter than the one in the standard Renault Zoe EV. Because the CMF-EV design is so flexible, Alpine can make coupe and SUV EVs that are the right size for American buyers in terms of length and track. The platform can also hold a motor in the back to give the car more speed and all-wheel drive. Based on the A290_ß idea, future Alpine cars will look more aggressive and have more power than their Renault peers. Alpine F1 engineers will make aerodynamic improvements. Expect the production model to have the same X-shaped lights, which are a nod to the tape used on race and rally cars in the 1960s and will be used as a marketing tool for the whole line. How likely is it that Alpine will go to America? More likely than you think. De Mao says that a flood of Chinese electric vehicles (E.V.s) threatens Renault’s historic mass-market place in Europe. He says he plans to move the brand’s center of gravity upward. But he must also sell more cars in areas where Renault could be more well-known. Since this is the case, bringing Alpine to the U.S. makes sense, where its history with sports cars and links to the glamorous F1 series give it a higher-end appeal than the regular Renault name.
