Alpine A110 to be axed?
Discussion
The sports car is a niche within a niche - doesn’t need to appeal to every man/woman on the street and so their opinion is worthless.
Some might say F1 is a waste of money full stop for all those paying the bills...
As Renault are paying for a team anyway it seems to make sense to promote Alpine.
Good luck to them
Some might say F1 is a waste of money full stop for all those paying the bills...
As Renault are paying for a team anyway it seems to make sense to promote Alpine.
Good luck to them
DoubleD said:
Miserablegit said:
Some might say F1 is a waste of money full stop for all those paying the bills...
As Renault are paying for a team anyway it seems to make sense to promote Alpine.
Good luck to them
Yep, its a bit of a no brainer really. As Renault are paying for a team anyway it seems to make sense to promote Alpine.
Good luck to them
Mercedes hope to get a glow over their entire range, including AMG. There's an aura of serious engineering, performance and winning credibility for every A180 out there. But the Megane RS is now left orphaned, despite Renault paying for an F1 team.
What do i know, i'd have left Renault as the team name & colours and put Alpine on the car/overalls. This sort of rebranding takes years and big $. It's why Lotus still has brand value - Geely will refer back to historical achievements and let owners do a little research to get 'excited' (i'm thinking of the eastern markets here, not UK where there is still awareness amongst the relevant market).
CABC said:
good luck to them for sure, but i'm with rockin on this one, i can't see the reasoning/payback.
The reason is crystal clear - Renault want to establish Alpine as a premium brand on which they can sell high profit margin SUVs or whatever. Just as VW have Porsche. Toyota have with Lexus, Nissan with Infiniti. Of course they may or may not be successful - Toyota have with Lexus, VW with Porsche but perhaps not Nissan with Infiniti.But there is absolutely no point in embarking on that route unless you put some serious marketing into it. F1 involvement hasn't (as far as I can see) "lifted" the Renault brand - hardly surprising since they don't have any "aspirational" vehicles. F1 could certainly put some wind in Alpines sales.
My experience is (and people come up to me almost every day I park somewhere for any length of time) being very positive about the car - but without a clue of what it is. F1 branding COULD help enormously - though I think Renault ought to buy Alpine audio and rename it, and the genuine confusion with Alpina really isn't helpful either.
cerb4.5lee said:
I often wonder whether Renault should have just called it the Renaultsport A110. The Renaultsport badge is extremely well known/well regarded for having some great cars linked to it, like the Clio/Megane RS and Trophy etc. That might have helped the sales of it.
True and the front styling is somewhat controversial I think.cerb4.5lee said:
I often wonder whether Renault should have just called it the Renaultsport A110. The Renaultsport badge is extremely well known/well regarded for having some great cars linked to it, like the Clio/Megane RS and Trophy etc. That might have helped the sales of it.
I assume the end of RS branded Renaults will come once they start concentrating on Alpine . We already know there will be no RS version of the current Clio. The Megane in all it's forms may be axed. A huge shame, the RS brand has such a great history. RS Line is just a mild tweek in trim.Will they seriously be making an Alpine Captur or Alpine Kadjar, and would those who buy such cars have a clue about what the Alpine bit means.
SidewaysSi said:
True and the front styling is somewhat controversial I think.
The link to the original 110 was essential (imo) for success in the French market. As an owner I don't find it controversial. Of course, no one is going to come up to me and say "couldn't help but notice what an ugly car you have". BUT, when I say that people come up to me, almost literally on a daily basis (and sometimes more than once) and make complimentary remarks - is it that controvesial?bcr5784 said:
The reason is crystal clear - Renault want to establish Alpine as a premium brand on which they can sell high profit margin SUVs or whatever. Just as VW have Porsche. Toyota have with Lexus, Nissan with Infiniti. Of course they may or may not be successful - Toyota have with Lexus, VW with Porsche but perhaps not Nissan with Infiniti.
But there is absolutely no point in embarking on that route unless you put some serious marketing into it. F1 involvement hasn't (as far as I can see) "lifted" the Renault brand - hardly surprising since they don't have any "aspirational" vehicles. F1 could certainly put some wind in Alpines sales.
My experience is (and people come up to me almost every day I park somewhere for any length of time) being very positive about the car - but without a clue of what it is. F1 branding COULD help enormously - though I think Renault ought to buy Alpine audio and rename it, and the genuine confusion with Alpina really isn't helpful either.
i get that completely, and i agree with you too. the key point is that you don't do this cheaply or overnight. yet, the strategic review seemed disjointed from the outside (snr mgt changes, mixed messaging in leaks etc). this type of strategy needs to be consistent over 10yrs+. the logic is sound, but commitment is needed.But there is absolutely no point in embarking on that route unless you put some serious marketing into it. F1 involvement hasn't (as far as I can see) "lifted" the Renault brand - hardly surprising since they don't have any "aspirational" vehicles. F1 could certainly put some wind in Alpines sales.
My experience is (and people come up to me almost every day I park somewhere for any length of time) being very positive about the car - but without a clue of what it is. F1 branding COULD help enormously - though I think Renault ought to buy Alpine audio and rename it, and the genuine confusion with Alpina really isn't helpful either.
DoubleD said:
I can see why they styled it like they did, but its a bit of an odd looking car.
Come on! a 911 is certainly an odd looking car - but it's been around so long that people consider it normal, boring even.The original A110 has long been considered one of the most stylish coupes of all time. I don't personally think the new edition is as attractive - but it's no less odd looking.
bcr5784 said:
DoubleD said:
I can see why they styled it like they did, but its a bit of an odd looking car.
Come on! a 911 is certainly an odd looking car - but it's been around so long that people consider it normal, boring even.The original A110 has long been considered one of the most stylish coupes of all time. I don't personally think the new edition is as attractive - but it's no less odd looking.
I'm of the opinion that the decision to style a modern interpretation (some would say pastiche) of the original A110 was simply a mistake.
It's certainly not an ugly car, but I don't think it's particularly (to my eyes) successful either. The original A110 works because of the extremely low bonnet line and bodywork, once you've jacked up the height of the nose, bonnet, doors and bodywork in general of the new version it's just not as visually pretty and svelt.
It's certainly not an ugly car, but I don't think it's particularly (to my eyes) successful either. The original A110 works because of the extremely low bonnet line and bodywork, once you've jacked up the height of the nose, bonnet, doors and bodywork in general of the new version it's just not as visually pretty and svelt.
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