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Loss-making Renault's new chief executive, Luca
de Meo, sees Alpine as central to the carmaker's recovery and
this month announced Renault's Formula One team will be
rebranded as Alpine next year.
The car will be built around an Oreca chassis and Gibson engine
in the LMP1 category, said Alpine general manager Patrick
Marinoff.
Alpine will line up in the LMP1 next year with the Signatech
team. Alpine are competing in this weekend's Le Mans 24 Hours in
the LMP2 category, also with Signatech
"The timing is just right now for alpine to move up in LMP1.
Renault has clear, strong ambitions to position it as the sports
brand of the group, and therefore it makes sense to raise the
bandwidth of Alpine," Marinoff said during a conference call
with reporters.
Alpine said in a statement on Monday that "potential synergies
with the F1 team are being studied."
Reuters reported last week that de Meo had written in an
internal memo that Renault might have to cut more costs than
initially planned to get out of the red.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated problems including a
downward trajectory in earnings since 2018, the carmaker's
ability to generate cash, and new models that were not
profitable enough.
In his internal memo, de Meo said he wanted to broaden the
Alpine's range of vehicles beyond the A110, following Porsche's
model. A source close to Renault said de Meo wanted to swiftly
introduce a semi-convertible version of the A110. (Reporting by
Gilles Guillaume; writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Ken
Ferris)
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