When Renault unveiled their head turning Alpine A110-50 Concept earlier this year, one couldn’t help but wonder how the struggling French automaker was ever going to bring it to life. Renault’s partnership with Dacia, Nissan and Samsung in South Korea certainly keeps than more profitable than French compatriots Peugeot Citroen PSA, but developing a halo car like the Alpine A110-50 is always going to require skip loads of cash, if you want it to be a worthwhile exercise anyway.
Perhaps it was just a rumour, but Lotus was initially linked with developing the production version of the A110-50. It made sense because the British sports car maker has a lot of experience in developing third party projects for clients. Think Opel / Vauxhall, Tesla, etc… Now however, claims in the European media are that Renault has chosen Caterham, not Lotus, as its preferred partner for the new Alpine. Perhaps the dramatic unravelling of Lotus and the Dany Bahar scandal is to blame? Whatever the reason, Renault’s COO, Carlos Tavares, has been heard in the media saying the new Alpine platform is finished and that the car will enter production when a suitable partner was found to share costs.
Renault and Caterham are already linked in Formula 1. The deal is according to speculation ‘well advanced’ and details are expected to be revealed in the next month. If this were to proceed as mooted, Caterham will also build its own version of the ‘Alpine’. We’ve reported before Caterham’s ambitions to build a mainstream, road-going car. It was also recently announced that Caterham has appointed former director of Renault Sport F1, Cyril Abiteboul, as its new CEO. Coincidence or forward planning? Only time will tell.