Currently reading: Frankfurt: Renault to reinvent Alpine
Renault could bring back the Alpine name for a 'hot' version of its planned new coupé model

Renault will launch at least one new coupe model off an all-new modular platform that is under development – and the Alpine name could return for the already confirmed Renaultsport version.

Speaking at today’s Frankfurt motor show  Renault product manager Beatrice Foucher confirmed a new C/D platform would be used to underpin its next-generation Mégane and Laguna models.

“We need conventional cars as well as well as innovative cars,” said Foucher. “It’s very early stages, but we will have at least one coupe in the line-up [off the new C/D platform]. You can do lots of different cars off the platform. There will be a minimum of one coupe on the platform.”

Foucher confirmed the Laguna is due for replacement in 2013/14 and it is thought a standalone coupe model will replace the current Laguna coupe in order to differentiate it from a nameplate that has fallen out of favour with European buyers. She added that work on the new platform had begun in 2010 and a price had been fixed for all the models to be spun off it “early in the process”.

Foucher also said that Renaultsport is already involved in the development of the platform and stated that a Renaultsport version of this new coupé would be launched.

On the Alpine name returning, Foucher said: “We’re working on Alpine. It’s a possibility and we’re looking at what an Alpine would be in a Renaultsport line-up.”

Expanding on a possibility for a new badge to be introduced by Renault for niche models in the mould of Citroën’s DS range, Foucher said: “We’re thinking about a new sub-brand for coupés and crossovers.”

Foucher did however say that Renaultsport was unable to develop its own models from start to finish as it was not something the sporty sub-brand was currently “educated" in.

The current Mégane and Scenic models will also get a facelift within the next 12 months, Focuher confirmed, to bring their styling in line with that of the new Twingo, revealed at today’s Frankfurt show.

Mark Tisshaw

mark-tisshaw-autocar
Title: Editor

Mark is a journalist with more than a decade of top-level experience in the automotive industry. He first joined Autocar in 2009, having previously worked in local newspapers. He has held several roles at Autocar, including news editor, deputy editor, digital editor and his current position of editor, one he has held since 2017.

From this position he oversees all of Autocar’s content across the print magazine, autocar.co.uk website, social media, video, and podcast channels, as well as our recent launch, Autocar Business. Mark regularly interviews the very top global executives in the automotive industry, telling their stories and holding them to account, meeting them at shows and events around the world.

Mark is a Car of the Year juror, a prestigious annual award that Autocar is one of the main sponsors of. He has made media appearances on the likes of the BBC, and contributed to titles including What Car?Move Electric and Pistonheads, and has written a column for The Sun.

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