Alpine and Vel Satis successor in Renault’s future?

Renault has begun an ambitious 26-model offensive set to culminate in 2009 with the revival of the company’s sporty Alpine brand. The French carmaker also has other plans afoot, however, including an all-new flagship model

Despite the seemingly Herculean task ahead of it, Renault has remained rather quiet regarding its new models. But the Geneva unveiling of the Koleos crossover SUV, along with an as yet unnamed concept car should see the project gain some momentum.

Perhaps the most interesting addition to this sizeable range will be the revival of the iconic Alpine brand. Late last year, Renault’s marketing boss Patrick Blain hinted at plans to bring back the Alpine and now company product chief Patrick Pélata has described one of the upcoming models as a sporty roadster.

Pélata went on to tell the press “we are working on a sports car project and you will see this within the next few years. We still have the Alpine name which we would like to use again and ideally we would like to have an affordable sports car on a RWD platform that is great fun to drive.”

Previous reports have suggested that new Alpine’s powerplant will be a mid-mounted turbocharged petrol unit that will develop more power than the 112 kW 2,0-litre unit that did service in the quirky Renault Sport Spider.

The styling will draw a number of cues from the legendary A110 sports car of the 1960’s and the overall package should be a lightweight body with a punchy powerplant.“Think Mazda MX-5 or even Smart Roadster and you are on the right lines,” explains Pélata.

Other models in the pipeline include the production version of the Laguna Coupé concept which appeared at last year’s Farnkfurt Show and a new flagship model. This luxury model is thought to be positioned above the Laguna in a bid to compete with premium cars from Peugeot and Citroen – it is an interesting move, considering the lukewarm reception that Gallic executive saloons often receive and the lack of affection for the company’s oddball Avantime and Vel Satis models.