Wednesday 17th January 2024

Alpine records impressive sales growth in 2023

Electrification may be beckoning, but Alpine says its A110 order book is already half full for 2024

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Scary to think the A110 is entering its seventh year of production in 2024. Time really has flown. Alpine’s flag bearer has not always set the world alight on the sales front - and has arguably suffered for the lack of a proper facelift in that time - but a slew of limited edition models and the introduction of the A110 R evidently worked wonders for the two-seater in 2023. 

Renault has today reported global sales of 4,328 units, a 22 per cent improvement over 2022 and even outpacing the 17 per growth recorded by its sister brand, Dacia (although it shifted 562,890 cars in the same period). The results mean Alpine has recorded double-digit growth for its third consecutive year, and the manufacturer claims the A110 has consolidated its position as the ‘leading two-seater sports coupé sold in Europe in 2023’. Three-quarters of its sales are said to be top-of-the-range derivatives. 

While the bulk of its deliveries are to EU countries, the figures suggest that Alpine’s ambitious international development strategy, which this year has seen it expand to countries like Israel and Morocco, has paid dividends. The firm now boasts 146 dealers worldwide, and expects to arrive in Turkey in early 2024. 

This year will also be significant for the beginning of Alpine’s electrification journey. The company will launch the hotly anticipated A290 in the coming months, an electric hot hatch based on the incoming Renault 5. And that’s just the start - an SUV is due to arrive at some point, followed by (we hope) an EV successor to the A110. Although the old stager clearly has some time remaining; Alpine says its order book is already full for the next seven months. 

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• 2023 Alpine A110 R | UK Review
• Behold the new Alpine A290_β

[996GT3_Matt]

Good for them, they were brave to sandwich this product between the Cayman and Lotus range. No skin in the game here but I am pleased for Alpine.

[Terminator X]

I worry for them when EV replaces ICE.

TX.

[Will94]

Order book half full or half empty?

[GTRene]

first picture I did not saw the Alpine in that, had to look twice.

but this picture I like, here it looks a bit special, good to hear they do well.

[S600BSB]

Great cars. Glad they are selling well.

[heisthegaffer]

GTRene said:

first picture I did not saw the Alpine in that, had to look twice.

but this picture I like, here it looks a bit special, good to hear they do well.

Looks brilliant.

[yme402]

Glad to hear they are doing well.

[Krikkit]

PH Article said:

Scary to think the A110 is entering its seventh year of production in 2024. Time really has flown. Alpine’s flag bearer has not always set the world alight on the sales front - and has arguably suffered for the lack of a proper facelift in that time - but a slew of limited edition models and the introduction of the A110 R evidently worked wonders for the two-seater in 2023.

Does anyone really think the A110 really needs a facelift? That is, anyone who actually liked it at launch.

It still looks great, what would it be other than token fiddling? I don't understand why there's this constant need to facelift everything every 5 minutes...

[fantheman80]

Terminator X said:

I worry for them when EV replaces ICE.

TX.

I really do agree. Alpine have a monumental task to replicate the lightness & handling in an EV alternate, and get their loyal fanbase out of the ICE A110. Best of luck

[Edmundo2]

fantheman80 said:

Terminator X said:

I worry for them when EV replaces ICE.

TX.

I really do agree. Alpine have a monumental task to replicate the lightness & handling in an EV alternate, and get their loyal fanbase out of the ICE A110. Best of luck

Surely if they are already way lighter than the competition ICE cars and they are a running a conventional 4 pot then not all of that weight advantage is coming from the drivetrain and they could hope to retain that advantage if everyone moves to EV..?

I appreciate the gestation period for new designs but would also think they'll wait as long as possible before making the leap in the belief that the tech may have evolved by then and the battery weight has reduced?

[Robertb]

With the Caterham, Boxster and Alpine EVs upcoming things are looking more interesting in that segment.

[spikyone]

Article said:

the manufacturer claims the A110 has consolidated its position as the ‘leading two-seater sports coupé sold in Europe in 2023’.

Am I missing something here? Their sales must surely be dwarfed by the Cayman if they only sold 4000 globally. How are Alpine making that claim with a straight face?

[fantheman80]

spikyone said:

Article said:

the manufacturer claims the A110 has consolidated its position as the ‘leading two-seater sports coupé sold in Europe in 2023’.

Am I missing something here? Their sales must surely be dwarfed by the Cayman if they only sold 4000 globally. How are Alpine making that claim with a straight face?

Hmm quick google and from Porsche press release “The 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman models posted 20,518 deliveries (+13 per cent).” No split but not knowing sales in Europe for both….maybe

[Scott-R]

Edmundo2 said:

Surely if they are already way lighter than the competition ICE cars and they are a running a conventional 4 pot then not all of that weight advantage is coming from the drivetrain and they could hope to retain that advantage if everyone moves to EV..?

I appreciate the gestation period for new designs but would also think they'll wait as long as possible before making the leap in the belief that the tech may have evolved by then and the battery weight has reduced?

As an Alpine owner who also loves EVs, this is what I hope will happen. The engine in the A110 is peppy enough, but it’s hardly the star of the show.

I think a reasonable estimate for the weight of the powertrain and all associated fluids, would be a 200kg, so we can say an A110 weighs 900kg. A 75kWh Model 3 battery is around 480kg currently, so even taking that today, add another 50kg for HV wiring and motors and that gives you a 1400kg EV sports car. Or what a Cayman weighs today anyway. You could trim that weight down a bit to account for improved battery tech in 2-3 years when an EV A110 replacement, or boost capacity (which I think would not be required here). So let’s be generous and say a 1350kg EV sports car by 2025. With the lower centre of gravity of the batteries vs the 4 pot (which in the ICE A110 is mounted pretty high), I think it would easily be possible to disguise those extra 250kgs, especially if they trade some weight and go dual motor to allow for more torque vectoring and software to virtually change wheelbase. Personally, I can’t wait to see an electric Alpine sports car!

[Xenoous]

Happy for Alpine but fear for their future. Im very intrigued to see how the next generation EV sports cars sell. My gut tells me not very well, but I imagine they'll do well in company car schemes.

As someone who will likely never buy new, the prospect of owning a second hand BEV fills me with dread, to the point I will actively avoid it.

Good luck Alpine, if anyone can make a lightweight BEV sports car work, it's these guys.

[MyV10BarksAndBites]

GTRene said:

first picture I did not saw the Alpine in that, had to look twice.

but this picture I like, here it looks a bit special, good to hear they do well.

It does look good in that pic...🏆 Yes the first pic not so much... 😂

[stanlow45]

fantheman80 said:

spikyone said:

Article said:

the manufacturer claims the A110 has consolidated its position as the ‘leading two-seater sports coupé sold in Europe in 2023’.

Am I missing something here? Their sales must surely be dwarfed by the Cayman if they only sold 4000 globally. How are Alpine making that claim with a straight face?

Hmm quick google and from Porsche press release “The 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman models posted 20,518 deliveries (+13 per cent).” No split but not knowing sales in Europe for both….maybe

Odd headline to the article as they simply don’t make very many in the first place and never have, it’s a niche product. I suppose if you start from a low number, 22% growth of that number sounds good but is still very few.

[bcr5784]

spikyone said:

Am I missing something here? Their sales must surely be dwarfed by the Cayman if they only sold 4000 globally. How are Alpine making that claim with a straight face?

They are only making that claim for Europe. Clearly they aren't going to outsell the Cayman worldwide, because they don't have any major market outside Europe - don't sell at all in America. However over it's life, apart from a bad year in 2020, the A110 European sales have been close to the Cayman - and in a couple of years outsold the Cayman. 2019 by a big margin, and clearly last year by (probably) a smaller one.

[bcr5784]

fantheman80 said:

Hmm quick google and from Porsche press release “The 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman models posted 20,518 deliveries (+13 per cent).” No split but not knowing sales in Europe for both….maybe

The Box generally outsells the Cayman by quite a margin - something like 5:3, so that corresponds to about 8000 Caymans worldwide - twice as many as A110s but hardly in a different ballpark.

[stanlow45]

Doesn’t look like a lot of growth, nine more sold over ‘22.

Maybe the French bought some more, I think that is their main market somewhat unsurprisingly.