Barely returned that it is already necessary to set out again. Such is life in Formula 1, whose season restarts on March 28 in Bahrain. And the new boss of Alpine, Laurent Rossi, 45, in charge of the brand on the commercial and industrial level, but also to drive the racing team, quickly understood the mechanics. Alpine must become Renault’s new showcase, since on the Billancourt side we have stored in the garage the Renault Sports division to leave room for the “A arrowed” mark. In a few months, Alpine has thus gone from a structure in danger on the industrial level, to a driving force for recovery. A hell of a bet.
“Luca gave me a clear roadmap: to be profitable in 2025”
Before presenting his “Renaulution” this winter, his strategic project for the French manufacturer, the new general manager, the Italian Luca de Meo, had indeed already made a radical choice: to offer a second youth to the “bombinette de Dieppe” , the nickname of the champion car in endurance (24 Hours of Le Mans) and rallies in the 1960s and 1970s, until then a niche project in the Renault galaxy. By capitalizing on the A110, the small sports car resurrected in 2017, the man who, in another life, brought the Fiat 500 back to life, wants the brand to become the vanguard of Renault.
“Luca has given me a very clear roadmap: to be profitable in 2025, indicates Laurent Rossi who, for the first time since his appointment, agrees to detail his strategy. In order to achieve this, we will use the visibility of the F1 to develop the reputation of Alpine”, he sums up, having started his career at Renault in 2000, in the mechanical division. For Alpine, the horizon is even ten years away, both industrially and sportingly since, after a 2021 season called “transition”, the ambition is to “play for victory in F1 from 2023”.
On the left the Italian Davide Brivio, defector from Moto GP and new director of Team Alpine F1. On the right, Laurent Rossi, new CEO of Alpine. March 13 in Bahrain.
XPB / James Moy Photography Ltd.
When he is not in the paddock, Laurent Rossi is therefore preparing the future range of the brand which will see the arrival of two new models by 2024. It will first be a small city car, “on the profile of the R5 Turbo or Clio RS, explains the boss. Then we will launch a crossover, a model for slightly longer trips, but still with this sporty line”. All in a 100% electric version! “We have the audacity to think that we can offer sporty electrics in a price range acceptable [en dessous de 70 000 euros, NDLR]. And this is where the experience in Formula 1 will be very useful to us”, specifies Laurent Rossi who is also working on a new version of the A110 built with Lotus.
“Dieppe will be the heart of the project”
Within the team, its engineers based in Viry-Châtillon (Essonne) and Enstone (United Kingdom) have acquired expertise in battery management, but also in chassis, one of their historical strengths. “In F1, we work a lot on the notion of torque to give maximum power in a short time. We also have good control of the distribution of masses to balance the car”, explains the DG of Alpine, who relies a lot on the aerodynamics to increase the autonomy of its future mainstream cars.
The Alpine A110 next to its elder, the world rally champion berlinetta.
MS
At a time of all-digital technology and the pandemic that is emptying concessions, the new management of Alpine is also betting on an alliance between online sales and “corners” in the network. Renault since it has, to date, only 58 dedicated points of sale in Europe. These two axes will be at the heart of the commercial project. On the industrial level, the final decisions are in progress. Because, for the moment, it is at the factory in Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), the historic cradle of the brand, that the A110 is assembled, even if the pace has slowed considerably because of the Covid. At the height of spring, only 7 vehicles came out a day. Result of the races, the brand only sold 1527 copies in 2020, which cast doubt on the survival of the site. Laurent Rossi cut short rumors of closure. “Dieppe will be the heart of the project. We are proud of this factory, we are going to reboost it”, he indicates, while specifying that other sites will also produce the next Alpine, using the future 100% electric platforms of the Covenant.
In the meantime, all eyes are on the new blue-white-red single-seaters. After good winter tests, the Alpine drivers, the young Frenchman Esteban Ocon and the experienced Spaniard Fernando Alonso, arrive in Bahrain pumped up. They hold part of Renault’s future in their hands.
ALPINE in 3 dates
1955: Creation of Alpine by Jean Rédélé
1995: End of production of the A610, discontinuation of the brand
2017: A new A110 is produced in Dieppe