Part of the restructuring includes a review of the small Dieppe plant in France responsible for the Alpine A110. The lightweight, mid-engine sports car is the sole offering in the Alpine lineup and has production numbering less than 5,000 units per year.
(Motor Authority)
Fahad's key takeaways:
- Renault has been facing huge losses during the pandemic and is scaling back on its operations which will see about 15,000 job cuts worldwide.
- As part of the major restructuring, six plants are under review out of which one is the Alpine plant. Since the start of its production in 2017, it has had low sales numbers and hasn't added much value to the group.
- There's a possibility that the Alpine brand might be turned into a performance EV brand, though the final decision will fall to Volkswagen Group executive, Luca de Meo, who takes over as CEO of Renault on July 1.
- Turning it into a high performance EV brand could prove beneficial as Renault moves to all electric drivetrains. BMW created a strong halo with its i8 hybrid supercar. Moreso, the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi alliance could strengthen its future vehicle development, by sharing EV technologies (in-car connectivity, electric powertrain, etc) with the future Alpine models.