Alpine: 2024 Sales Increase… But Disappointing?

Alpine has revealed its 2024 sales in detail, showing positive growth in some markets and negative in others. Is this serious?

The year 2024 marked a major — and much anticipated — turning point for Alpine. After years of an exclusively coupe-focused lineup centered around the A110 thermal model, the French brand finally launched another model, this time electric: the A290. A first sporty city car derived from the Renault R5, which helped boost sales. However, this ambitious strategy raises as many questions as it generates enthusiasm.

The strengths of an ambitious strategy

With a 5.9% increase in sales in 2024, Alpine continues on a positive trajectory. The brand sold 4,585 vehicles worldwide, and the A110 remains dominant in the European market for 2-seater sports coupes with a market share of 44.7%. This growth highlights the relevance of its premium positioning, especially compared to Porsche and its end-of-life Boxster.

The debut of the A290, named Car of the Year 2025, demonstrates Alpine‘s capacity to reinvent itself to meet the expectations of a shifting market. With over 2,300 orders recorded at launch, this electric city car could become a key growth driver while waiting for the upcoming SUV, the A390, also electric. The product plan is very ambitious, but whether the customer base will follow remains to be seen.

The expansion of the distribution network with 18 new sales points in 2024 and plans to establish presence in Ireland and Nordic countries demonstrate Alpine’s ambition to develop beyond its traditional markets. But isn’t it too cautious given the massive marketing investments made, including in Formula 1? All this noise for so few sales is surprising.

Limitations and risks of this strategy

Although promising, Alpine’s electric transition mainly relies on the nascent success of the A290 and future models like the A390. The electric vehicle market is highly competitive, with well-established players and margins under pressure due to high production costs. Alpine remains vulnerable against brands offering a greater variety of models and greater legitimacy in electric vehicles, such as Tesla. Launching the A390 in 2025 will need to fill this gap, but it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to significantly broaden the customer base.

Furthermore, despite efforts to expand internationally, Alpine still generates nearly 80% of its sales on its three main markets: France, Germany, and the UK. Breaking into new markets, especially in Asia and North America, proves more complex and costly than expected. Once again, the mission of Formula 1 was to accelerate visibility. Has it succeeded? The year 2025, with more mass-market and everyday life-friendly products, will be crucial.

Alpine global sales in 2024

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