Tuesday 21st February 2023

Former Ferrari, Alfa chassis guru joins Alpine

Philippe Krief helped make the 458 Speciale and Giulia QF epic - now he must do the same for Alpine EVs...

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Industry comings and goings aren’t typical PH news fodder, but then Philippe Krief’s arrival at Alpine as its new Managing Director - as well as VP, Engineering and Product Performance - is no regular appointment. Not only is he leaving his role as Head of R&D at Ferrari, he was also Chief Technical Officer for the Alfa Romeo Giorgio platformed cars, the Giulia and Stelvio. Y’know, perhaps the best-driving cars in their respective segments, and easily the greatest Alfa Romeos of the 21st century. Oh yes, and before that was his first stint for Ferrari, where one of his responsibilities was the chassis of the 458 Speciale, unarguably a high watermark for mid-engined Ferrari V8s.

So Krief goes to Dieppe with quite the CV to his name, but also quite the in-tray to tackle. All new Alpine models launched from 2024 will be electric; not only will Krief have to get an electric saloon, sports car and hot hatch to increasingly competitive markets, but the job must also be done in the wake of the A110. Talk about a ludicrously high bar.

A little like the Giulia and Stelvio for Alfa Romeo in fact, nobody really expected much from the little Alpine sports car, only for it to captivate all who got behind the wheel and show everyone else where they’d been going wrong. (Then still not sell as well as the German alternatives.) Somehow Krief’s dual role will have to translate the sheer joy of a 1,100kg sports car to much larger, heavier EVs, because the legacy of the A110 deserves nothing less. A tough job - but if anyone was equipped for impossible tasks it’s the man who made the first rear-drive Alfa in 30 years a world beater.

Krief will report directly to Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi. The latter said: “I am delighted that Philippe Krief is joining our outstanding and dynamic Alpine team. His many years of experience in the high-end and sporty automotive industry will be an asset for the brand and will allow us to develop a rich and promising product range to achieve our ambitions, especially in new markets. Alpine has to prepare itself in optimum conditions for this pivotal time in its history." Krief’s time at Alpine begins next month. 

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• Alpine previews three model EV plan for 2024
• Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio vs. BMW M3 (G80) Competition

 

[leglessAlex]

Sounds like a great appointment. From the concept electric A110 they brought out, it sounds like Alpine are fairly confident the electric successor to the A110 will still be quite light, 1,250-1,350kg I think.

The hot hatch will be built on the Megane E platform, which I believe is around 1,700kg as it stands, so he has his work cut out for him there that's for sure.

[romac]

Good Krief! That's a top man for a top job! Congratulations to Alpine and to Mr Krief. Wish them both all the best.

I'm sure there will be bright spots amongst the white goods in the electric future as there is now. Alpine A110 and Mr K Krief's cv being two cases in point.

[Nomme de Plum]

leglessAlex said:

Sounds like a great appointment. From the concept electric A110 they brought out, it sounds like Alpine are fairly confident the electric successor to the A110 will still be quite light, 1,250-1,350kg I think.

The hot hatch will be built on the Megane E platform, which I believe is around 1,700kg as it stands, so he has his work cut out for him there that's for sure.

The ICE A110 is about 1100kg so not too bad if than can keep under 1300kg plus maybe 230/250kw so plenty of power.

Could be really spectacular.

[anonymous-user]

yea and it will now cost £901,000, for a test drive.....

[maclf01]

Author said:

nobody really expected much from the little Alpine sports car, only for it to captivate all who got behind the wheel and show everyone else where they’d been going wrong. (Then still not sell as well as the German alternatives.)

Really what is the point of this statement? I believe they've only made roughly 10K+ cars from 2017 to mid 2021 (I don't recall when exactly they hit the 10,000 manufactured mark in 2021) and their sales have been ~10,103 up to the end of 2021. (https://carsalesbase.com/europe-alpine-a110/) The car has essentially been sold out since it went on sale!

So why be so disingenuous and take shots at a reborn/new car brand? Or was this article written by the proletariat pessimists of PH?

What a shameful piece of automotive "Journalism".

Edited by maclf01 on Tuesday 21st February 19:00

[GreatScott2016]

Calm down sir, I thought it was quite amusing actually

[Terminator X]

Sports car and EV, pick one not both.

TX.

[MisterBigglesworth]

I hope he finished the Giulia replacement before he left. If it doesn’t posses his magic touch I’ll be most upset as it would be the first EV I’d actually want

[rlw]

Any car in a colour so close to Zanzibar Red must be good.....

[ah80809]

There is very little 'new tin' which interests me, probably due to being an old fart coupled with not being interested in the so many bland and overly complex cars now on sale, but the little Alpine is one of a handful of cars of interest .. so I have great hopes that a decent EV version may actually tempt me away from an ICE and starting with the chassis bodes well.

However, I have my fingers firmly crossed that they avoid going down what appears to be the 'standard EV route' of embellishing the styling with the sort naffness that would not have looked out of place in the original Tron movie.

[Evil.soup]

I have always loved these little things, certainly my kind of car. It's a real shame that they hold value so well as I did hope that there would be some getting into the 20k ballpark by now, but the cheapest 5 year old car seems to be 42k with new ones starting at 50k, thats a great residual value.

Guess I was being a bit optimistic in my thinking...

[dinkel]

When the Smart Roadster hit the market I had a dream the roads were soon to be filled with compact 2-seater city cars hauling commuters up and fro.

I really hope Alpine will live up to that dream and bring compact EVs that are inspiring to drive.

The A110 certainly is and I like it to bits.

Check https://albertmensingacreative.nl/rijden-met-de-al... and toggle the button to English.

[sege]

Sounds like a great appointment for Alpine. They have momentum and have produced the best new sports car since the last thing by Lotus with the Gordon Murry enjoying A110, so a great achievement.

Now if they could just make it look more like an E46 M3 or something (minus rusty rear subframe or boot or whatever it is) and paint it Grey/Silver and give it a German badge and make it boring, they'll definitely be onto a winner! At least with the non car buying PH great unwashed anyway.

Otherwise, Good stuff Alpine! Lets have a light(as possible)weight rear wheel drive non-power assisted steering EV sports car next please!

[nismo48]

sege said:

Sounds like a great appointment for Alpine. They have momentum and have produced the best new sports car since the last thing by Lotus with the Gordon Murry enjoying A110, so a great achievement.

Now if they could just make it look more like an E46 M3 or something (minus rusty rear subframe or boot or whatever it is) and paint it Grey/Silver and give it a German badge and make it boring, they'll definitely be onto a winner! At least with the non car buying PH great unwashed anyway.

Otherwise, Good stuff Alpine! Lets have a light(as possible)weight rear wheel drive non-power assisted steering EV sports car next please!