Alpine is seeking investment in its Formula 1 team to fast-track the development and global sales of its future road cars, Autocar can reveal.
The cash injection is believed to be being sought to accelerate Alpine’s plans to rapidly grow from a single-model, sports-car-only brand with a Europe-centric audience to a fully electrified Porsche rival with global appeal.
Alpine has already committed to replacing its lauded Alpine A110 sports car, as well as launching a Renault 5-based hot hatchback and a rakish-roofed sporting crossover by 2026 in a plan formulated under the leadership of CEO Luca de Meo, and last month also confirmed ambitions to launch luxury sports car EVs in the D- and E-segments.
Significantly, the SUV and two luxury sports cars are likely to be aimed at winning acclaim beyond Alpine’s heartland in Europe, most significantly in North America and China. As well as helping fund the vehicle developments, it is believed that Alpine also hopes an investor could be a strategic partner in helping it establish footholds in these territories faster than it could achieve by itself if it had to set up an operation from scratch.
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi has previously talked about expanding the brand’s global reach by “four to five times” - a significant and costly undertaking.
This raises the prospect of a deal with Lotus, which has similarly ambitious plans to grow its network and sales figures, and its owner Geely, which recently entered into a joint venture with Renault to continue making combustion engines. Alpine is already working with Lotus on the joint development of the A110 successor, as well as also exploring “the development of a joint services offer combining their engineering expertise”.
