Renault will turn its Alpine sports-car unit into an all-electric brand and expand it with three new full-electric models, including an EV developed with Lotus Cars.
Alpine will get an entry-level hatchback based on Renault-Nissan alliance's CMF-B EV platform and an SUV based on the alliance's CMF-EV platform.
Alpine and Lotus will co-operate on an electric sports car that will arrive in 2025 when Alpine's only model at present, the A110 coupe, will need to be replaced to meet new emissions targets and other tighter regulations, Renault CEO Luca de Meo said.
Alpine will remain a niche brand "but we can multiply the business by a factor of 10 or 20 easily by using the efforts of Renault," de Meo said in an online presentation on Thursday.
Alpine will absorb Renault’s performance arm, RenaultSport, which now produces fast versions of Renault models such as the Clio and Megane. The brand will be promoted globally via the Alpine Formula 1 team, which was rebranded from Renault for the 2021 season.
A darkened image of the three models in Renault’s slide presentation on Thursday showed a new headlight design for Alpine that suggests its cars will be more differentiated from standard Renault cars than today’s RenaultSport versions.