ALPINE

Renault sports division intends to use Lotus platform for new luxury electric SUVs

Alpine intends to use a Lotus platform for its new luxury electric SUVs that are expected to hit the market in 2027 and 2028.

The new models of the French sports brand will be destined to fight with proposals like the Porsche Macan and Cayenne. Everything indicates that they can be manufactured based on an architecture of the British brand. These electric models from Renault's sports car brand are expected to hit the market after the launch of the Alpine R5 and the GT X-over.

Alpine will use a platform outside the Renault group and the most likely partner will be Lotus, a brand that belongs to the Chinese giant Geely. The French are already working together with Lotus on an electric replacement for the A110, while Renault and Geely established a partnership last October to produce internal combustion engines.

Lotus has already stated that it intends to work with partners who want to take advantage of the platform of the new Electr SUV, as well as the new platform that will be used by the small Lotus 134 crossover that will arrive in 2024.

Nissan is also expected to provide Alpine with a platform that will be targeted at the D/E segments in the United States.

"The difficulty is that Alpine is a different animal," said Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, during the presentation of the brand's results. “We're creating a slightly different category in terms of performance expectations for customers,” he added.

Alpine's two models will be aimed at the "lifestyle division" of the brand's lineup, rather than pure sports vehicles. “The cars will be two tons and five meters long. We will not make sports cars if we are not like a Ferrari”, concluded Rossi.

Autonews