CEO Philippe Krief says he doesn’t want to push too hard into mainstream segments at the cost of exclusivity. While we are generally rather spoiled for choice in most respects here in the United States, Europe has managed to keep a few of its best automotive brands out of our grasp — and Alpine ranks right at the top of the list among the enthusiast crowd. That’s slated to change before too long, with the brand planning on moving into North American markets soon. However, don’t expect to see Alpines crowding every Starbucks parking lot: while speaking with British publication Autocar recently, Alpine CEO Philippe Krief recently shared a bit more information on the brand’s expansion roadmap, and it doesn’t sound like the brand is expecting gigantic sales.
The Alpine brand has been a staple of the sports car scene since the revival of the A110 back in 2017. US buyers have desperately clamored for the car’s American arrival ever since — but alas, it was not destined to happen with the current iteration of the car, due to regulatory issues. We already know the next-gen A110 is eventually slated to come to the States, but that isn’t likely to happen until around 2030.
View Price on AmazonKrief noted in the interview that the brand will need a fifth and sixth model beyond the A110 coupe and 2+2, A390 SUV, and A290 hatchback currently in the plans. Don’t expect one of those to be the US-oriented large SUV previously rumored, as the brand has opted to abandon that concept for the time being. But even with a six-model lineup, Alpine isn’t planning on chasing huge volumes. Krief told the publication that Alpine is looking to behave more like Ferrari than Porsche, in terms of sales. Admittedly, that is a big spread to cover; Maranello makes fewer than 15,000 cars a year, whereas Stuttgart is responsible for some 300,000 annually. Krief said he believes the latter approach ultimately hurts the exclusivity of the product.
“We are not Ferrari, of course, and we are not aiming to be Porsche. We aim to be more niche than Porsche,” Krief told Autocar. “We want to preserve the exclusivity and the profitability for our models.” Given that the US is responsible for nearly half of global sports car sales annually, getting the A110 on our shores seems like a smart financial decision. Whether or not the brand needs to be concerned with protecting exclusivity in the States is another conversation entirely. Sports cars are all fairly niche products, and convincing buyers to opt away from their established purveyors will be a challenge in its own right.
Source: roadandtrack.com
