Alpine not dead in Australia

ALPINE is working on returning to Australia, taking the lead as Renault’s halo sportscar brand locally as a new range of electrified Alpine models become available to replace the A110 that fell victim to changes in local regulations.

As part of Groupe Renault’s strategic plans announced by CEO Luca de Meo in 2021 dubbed ‘Renaulution’, Alpine will take over from Renault Sport as Renault’s sole premium sportscar brand, with five models coming, all electrified.

Groupe Renault announced this year that it would have its five models in play from 2026, including a new A110 and models in the B, C, D and E segments.

According to Renault Australia general manager Glen Sealey, there likely would have been a seamless transition from the current petrol A110 here, if it wasn’t for the updated safety regulations that ended local sales of the A110 in 2021.

“We’d still be importing the Alpine A110 if we could, if ADR 85 didn’t come along,” he said.

ADR 85/00, introduced in 2017, introduced new pole side impact regulation requirements that gave existing, non-complying models until November 2021 to comply.

The Alpine 110, Nissan GT-R, Lexus IS and RC and Mitsubishi Mirage were all pulled off the market as they were not able to be made compliant.

Mr Sealey pointed to the compact Alpine coupe’s success globally, suggesting the petrol-powered A110 would last a while longer globally.

“It’s been performing really well. If you look at the financials, the A110 is up 33 per cent year on year globally. So there is demand for the last of those internal combustion engine vehicles,” he said.

Supporting a return of the reinvigorated brand here, Mr Sealey was positive about its chances of a comeback.

“They are working on a new product plan as you know, with Alpine, and we’re very excited with it; we think that Alpine will work really well in Australia,” he enthused.