Will the Renault 5 Turbo 3E Kill Alpine?

The balance between the sister brands seems more fragile than ever, a situation painfully reminiscent of Alpine’s past.

Alpine’s story is a tale in itself. Founded in 1955 by Jean Rédélé, the brand with the arrow A quickly captured the hearts of the French and shined in all competitions it entered, on roads or circuits, from the World Rally Championship to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But in the real and brutal world, even the bravest underdog has little chance of survival against giants. In 1973, Renault took a stake in Alpine and Jean Rédélé left his beloved company in 1978 with Renault’s promise that its employees would have a 15-year employment contract. The diamond kept its promise, but Alpine fell into decline after that period.

Although Alpine’s revival was initiated in 2012, it wasn’t until 2017 that the new A110 appeared on the road. At that time, the manufacturer was entirely focused on this model, within the niche of small sporty coupes where its parent company Renault hadn’t set foot since the Spider. Everyone stayed in their lane, everything was fine. From special editions to sporty variants, the A110 has had—and still has—a remarkable career, but its internal combustion engine is no longer fashionable, and no brand can survive a decade with just one product, no matter how exceptional. Alpine has therefore announced a move toward all-electric with the first model, the compact A290, which is essentially a slightly “pimped” Renault 5 electric. After all, why not? Renault has its civil urban version, while Alpine gets the little hot hatch.

But at the same time, Renault has started slapping Alpine badges on almost all its models, frantically. There are Renault SUVs finished with Alpine trim to the point of redundancy. It’s just a trim level, because the Alpine badge isn’t accompanied by a more powerful motor—except for the Rafale Hybrid. It’s hard not to follow the trend.

We’re joking quietly about when there might be a Renault 5 in Alpine trim alongside the Alpine A290, which is just a Renault 5… but it seems there will probably never be one, because Renault has just revealed the Turbo 3E, a 500-horsepower R5 that blows away all versions of the A290! And not by a small margin!!!

It’s pretty clear that this Renault 5 Turbo 3E will be a very limited series at a highly intimidating price. A price much higher than the €45,000 of the A290 GTS, but still significantly lower than the €265,000 of the A110 R Uptime, which produces “only” 345 horsepower—155 less than the Renault? If we accept that no Alpine will ever be more sporty than this Renault, why bother with two brands? A quick and very serious answer to this question is now needed.