Alpine aims to be "more niche than Porsche" with six-car line-up

Alpine is devising a full six-car line-up – but won't launch any new models after the forthcoming electric A110 until at least 2030. 

Alpine has recently launched the A390 crossover alongside the A290 hot hatch as part of its expansion. Asked how big Alpine could become CEO Philippe Krief said “we are more on the Ferrari side in terms of volume than Porsche”, suggesting sales of around 15,000 cars per year.

He added: “We are not Ferrari, of course, and we are not aiming to be Porsche. We aim to be more niche than Porsche. We want to preserve the exclusivity and the profitability for our models.”

With the petrol A110 retired, Alpine currently has two cars in its line-up, both based on Renault platforms: the A290 and A390. But when asked about adding more cars, Krief said: “Not in the next four or five years.”

Krief didn’t rule out expansion completely, noting that after the new A110 coupé and 2+2 are out, “we will need [models] five and six”. The more immediate focus, he explained, is expanding into new European markets and then North America.

Alpine will launch in Canada near the end of the decade and the US after that. “The sports car market has been 350,000 cars a year for the past 30 years, and half are in the US,” said Krief.

Alpine has scrapped plans to launch a large SUV as the centrepiece of a US market entry. While Krief wouldn’t totally rule one out in the future, he noted that “we currently don’t have the platform” in the Renault Group.