We’ve had no shortage of news of the Alpine A110 - the revival marque with an equally resurrected model name given renewed breaths by Renault - from its inception to the slow march to its production unveil, and now, launch.
While it’s still some way off from being a full showroom-available car, 2018 will bear that out across multiple markets, including Australia. Though, the rollout will begin first in its home market of France and concentrically outward in Europe before going across continents.
What we had not known for sure up until now is one of the most important pieces of information on the A110: the price. But at a preview event for the car, reports CarAdvice, Renault Australia’s managing director, Andrew Moore, revealed that it will be sold between $90,000 to $100,000 when it reaches local showrooms in the latter half of 2018.
Being a sports car that focuses on lightness and agility, the car has had to make some comprises. It misses out on having the most comprehensive list of safety features. And because of it lacking curtain airbags, volume will thusly be in limited numbers (not more than 100), in compliance to FCAI rules, even relative to the modest capacity that Alpine projects to manufacture within its first year in production.
Alpine plans to have the first 1,955 examples be part of a limited run of Premiere Edition cars to commemorate the birth year of the Alpine brand, none of which are earmarked for markets outside Europe. However, all will share a near identical exterior and interior.
Powering the A110 will be the same 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol motor that will be at the heart of the next RenaultSport Megane hot hatch. It will be producing 186kW and 320Nm sent rearward via a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. Unsurprisingly, the century sprint will take 4.5 seconds as the entire car only weighs some 1,100kg.
With this level of performance and handling, packaged in a body this attractive with a genuinely premium (but driver-focused) interior, and the newly risen Alpine may indeed meet its own lofty ambition to create a genuine rival to the Porsche 718 Cayman in its first attempt while also being an alternative to the Alfa Romeo 4C.
It’s still a little unclear how exactly the A110 will be sold within Renault’s existing Australian dealer network. Unlike in Europe, there won’t be any new Alpine-specific showrooms popping up here, at least not in the near term.
For more on Renault and Alpine, check out our Showroom.
