Alpine, the sports brand of the Renault group, is currently looking for new investors to accelerate its development. And the Chinese group Geely (Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, etc.) would already be particularly interested in obtaining shares in the French company.
For the time being, and since its big comeback in 2017, Alpine has only offered one model in its range, the A110. But that will soon change, as the tricolor manufacturer will in turn have to switch to 100% electric over the next few years. And the firm is already working very actively on it.
New partners
It has indeed just lifted the veil on the Alpine A290_β concept, which announces its future 100% electric city car, which is none other than a sports version of the Renault 5 E-Tech, which will see the light of day in the course of the year 2025. Other models are also planned later, including an SUV that was also quickly announced, as well as a sports coupe.
A very promising product plan, therefore for the brand from Dieppe. But to achieve its goal, it will have to take various measures. And for good reason, and as the magazine reminds us The echoesthe company wishes multiply its turnover by ten by 2030 and launch no less than five new models in its catalog at the same time.
But to get there, of course, you need money, a lot of money. This is how the boss of Renault, Luca de Meo announced to be looking for new investors for Alpine. A statement made during the general meeting of the diamond brand, which was held on May 11 and which can be viewed on Youtube.
For the time being, no company has yet confirmed having signed with the Norman firm, which wishes to accelerate its expansion in the United States and China. But journalists from Echoes claim that a manufacturer would already be very interested. This is without great surprise the Chinese group Geely, which already owns Volvo, Lotus or even Lynk & co and the young brand Geometry as well as Zeekr (the famous electric car with 1,000 km of autonomy which is arriving in Europe). The latter also comes from take a stake in Aston Martin for a few days.
What issues?
To tell the truth, the Asian manufacturer is not really unknown to Renault. And for good reason, it already has a third of its activities in South Korea and should also take a 30% stake in Horse. For the record, this is one of Renault’s new entities, dedicated to the development of internal combustion engines. She is now separated from Ampère, who only works on electrics.
If the project to develop a future electric A110 in partnership with Lotus was finally abandoned, it could perhaps be reborn with the arrival of Geely in the capital. However, nothing is certain for the moment, while Luca de Meo explains that he is in the process of ” review potential investors“. Alpine indeed needs cash, but not urgently. Last year, the manufacturer generated 2.1 billion euros in free cash flow, against 10.8 for Stellantis.
The manufacturer is also looking for investors for its Formula 1 team, since Renault currently owns 100% of the shares. Nevertheless, the firm wishes to reassure its fans by explaining that the sale of the latter is not on the agenda. Who knows, maybe Geely will also position themselves? Anyway, the arrival of the Chinese group could be very badly perceived, while specialists are already warning about the invasion of manufacturers from the Middle Kingdom.
So much so that the country has recently become the world’s leading exporter. The Renault group also wishes to expand the activities of Mobilize, which offers mobility solutions, by launching energy service offers. The company already unveiled ultra-powerful 400 kW charging stations last year, which will be installed in its concessions. For its part, the subsidiary The Future is Neutral continues to work on recycling batteries, as Mercedes and Tesla do in particular.
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