Having “instinctive access to every crucial function”, said Villain, will allow drivers to create an “emotional relationship with the machine”, because “when you buy a sports car, you want to be in control”.
“It’s not the car that drives you and controls you: it’s the opposite,” he added.
Range expansion
The new EV will be the first of what Alpine expects to be a new expanded range of A110 models – as Porsche has cultivated with its 911. This, according to Krief, amounts to at least four two-door versions, these being a coupé, a convertible and lengthened, four-seat GT versions of both (which were originally tipped to revive the A310 name).
Krief sees the comparison with the 911 as important: he visualises a time after Alpine has launched more products and achieved greater brand awareness when buyers will “hesitate to decide” between Alpine and Porsche.
When he joined the company three years ago, said Krief, the major mission was to launch seven cars in seven years.
Two of those, the A290 and A390, are already on sale and the electric A110, in its various guises, is imminent in several forms.
After that, there might be a bigger SUV than the A390 (Krief said this was mainly planned for a US expansion currently on the back burner) and, once the company and its reputation are sufficiently expanded to justify it, an ultra-exclusive hypercar drawing influence from Le Mans racers.
The latter has already been previewed by the 1000bhp hydrogen-fuelled V6 Alpenglow concept, and it has been suggested that a production version could be built on the flexible APP.
Krief sees future Alpine models divided into what he calls three pillars.
First there’s the A110, which will always be the icon and will be “renewed and renewed and renewed”.
Then there are the cars like the A290 and A390, which offer “everyday extraordinariness”. That pillar can be expected to expand, although the only possibility Krief mentioned was a large estate car.
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