In January, Renault CEO Luca de Meo opened up about plans for a global expansion, with the Alpine sub-brand given the role of flagging in North America and China. As startup brands found out late, not only was building cars difficult, but maintaining them without an easily accessible network was a costly pain. Tesla has been at it for a decade, and Tesla owners still face a specific set of challenges. With de Meo looking for the best route into the US market, AutoNation may have opened the gate first. auto news report that the Renault chief has spoken to AutoNation CEO Mike Manley – formerly head at Fiat Chrysler – about bringing Alpines into showrooms.
This is all preliminary, mind. Renault is working on several aspects, AutoNation but one of them. A few of the draws to go with Ft. The 27-year-old, 27-year-old Lauderdale, Florida-based dealer group has more than 300 stores nationwide and has been the number one best-selling dealer group in the United States since 1997, a year after established. In 2022, AutoNation sold 229,971 new carsdown from 262,403 new vehicles in 2021 and ceding the company’s longtime lead to the Lithia Motors dealer group.
And while AutoNation sells almost everything from Bentley to Nissan, it doesn’t sell Porsche, Polestar or Lotus. An Alpine A110 sports coupe will fill the segment’s void on the show floor and Alpine electric crossover there will be no need to compete for attention among Alpine competitors or partners. Renault has entered into a joint venture with Polestar’s owner Geely to develop the ICE and electrified ICE powertrain, and may also partner with Geely on the platform for the CUV, and its successor to the electrified Alpine A110. speculation will emerge from the partnership with Lotus. The smaller Alpine crossover for the United States will be about the size of a Porsche Macan, with the larger being about the size of a Porsche Cayenne Coupe.
If anything comes up in the discussions, it’s also possible that AutoNation started as a digital front to order Alpines and could then service the sold cars. Renault has a lot to learn about its North American expansion, but the A110 sells very little and the crossovers don’t arrive until 2028, so there’s still time.
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