American drivers have spent years looking longingly across the Atlantic at the Alpine A110, a lightweight sports coupe widely praised for its razor-sharp handling. Now there’s a tiny hint that the forbidden fruit might finally become available.

Alpine’s CEO revealed this week that the next-generation A110 is being put through US crash tests. That’s a pretty unusual step for a car that technically isn’t planned for sale in America. Automakers normally only run those tests if they’re at least considering bringing a vehicle to the US. Otherwise, it’s just an expensive way to smash perfectly good prototypes into walls and poles.

Related: Renault Spent $30 Million To Make This French 911 Legal In America, Then Built Just 12

For Alpine, the potential payoff could be huge. Despite shrinking demand for sports cars, CEO Philippe Krief told Auto News that the global market for vehicles like the A110 sits at roughly 350,000 units per year, and about half of those sales happen in the United States. So skipping America means ignoring the biggest sports car market on Earth.

America Is An ‘Opportunity’

“We’re now focusing on Europe, because the business is built for Europe, but naturally the growth could be in the US,” the former Ferrari man said. “At least, I would not want to avoid that opportunity in the US,” he continued, while conceding that selling and distributing cars in America would need some planning even if the regulatory roadblocks were overcome.

Originally, Alpine had planned to enter the US with a pair of electric crossovers around 2028. But those plans are currently on ice as EV demand cools and tariffs complicate global trade. Instead, the company might be considering leading with the one car enthusiasts actually want, the A110.

All-New A110

That would be the next-generation A110 due to hit the road in 2027. The upcoming model rides on a new Alpine Performance Platform known as APP, with the first details and pictures revealed this week. It was originally designed purely for electric power, but having watched the market for electric performance cars sag, Alpine later figured out how to squeeze combustion engines into it as well.

Krief stopped short of confirming a petrol version for sale, but the platform’s flexibility makes one look increasingly likely. Alpine knows that while electric sports cars sound exciting in theory, the real-world market remains pretty small.

911-Style Big Brother

The APP architecture will underpin several cars, and not just a new A110 coupe. There will be one of those, of course, but also a convertible spider version, and a larger 2 plus 2 sports coupe designed to challenge the Porsche 911. That last one could be especially interesting for the US, where the 911 sells by the bucketload, and a higher price would mean higher margins than with the A110.

Alpine has hung its hat on electric power with cars like the A290, A390, and the upcoming A110, but the company isn’t completely closing the door on gasoline just yet. The brand has revealed secrets of its new Alpine Performance Platform that will underpin the next A110 and future models, and it’s reportedly designed to handle both EV and combustion power.

The new platform, which will underpin coupe and spider versions of the A110, as well as a 911-rivalling 2+2, sits at the center of Alpine’s role in Renault Group’s wider futuREady strategy. It’s a super-stiff, bonded, and riveted aluminum structure featuring all-aluminum suspension components to keep weight low, and two separate battery packs to ensure an optimal 40:60 front-rear weight distribution.

Related: Alpine Thinks Driving Got Too Serious, So It’s Building EV Convertibles

A dual-motor rear axle setup provides the power, together with a torque-vectoring function that can adjust power side-to-side every 10 milliseconds to sharpen handling. It should perform well at the charging station, too. The platform uses an 800-volt electrical architecture for fast charging capability. A new central computer, called the Alpine Dynamic Model ECU, will act as the brain of the system, coordinating the motors, battery management, steering, brakes, and even active aerodynamics.

CEO Philippe Krief says he’s confident the finished A110 EV will be “true to Alpine’s DNA and outperform the best of today’s combustion sports cars.”

Keep The Customer Satisfied

But he also knows the majority of Alpine buyers – and sports car fans in general – don’t want an electric A110. And it looks like he’s going to give them a lifeline. Although there’s no mention of a petrol-powered A110 in Alpine’s official strategy drop this morning, Autocar reports Krief confirming that the possibility is there.

“Before you ask, yes the platform is designed to accommodate an internal combustion engine,” the CEO told the British magazine.

Horse Power

No further details were given, but we previously reported how Alpine could use a hybrid powertrain developed by Renault-Geely collab Horse. It’s alleged to pump out 349 hp (354 PS) and 380 lb-ft (515 Nm), which would be plenty in a relatively lightweight car.

Sadly for US fans of the Alpine brand, neither the next ICE-powered A110, its electric sibling, nor any other Alpine model will be heading to North America. Expansion across the Atlantic had been under consideration for a while, but Alpine put those plans on hold last year due to the arrival of Trump’s tariffs and slowing growth in the US EV market.

The Renault Group futuREady plan announced this week also makes clear that Alpine will focus on existing markets for the time being rather than attempting to expand into new ones.

Alpine

Renault has decided the best way to prepare for the future is to literally name its strategy after it. The company’s new futuREady plan promises dozens of new models, cheaper EVs, and dramatically faster development cycles as the French automaker tries to China-proof its business and become Europe’s “benchmark” carmaker.

The strategy builds on the Renaulution turnaround plan launched in 2021, which helped stabilize the company after several turbulent years. Now Renault wants to turn that recovery into long term growth with a roadmap that stretches through the end of the decade.

Related: Renault’s Making A Jimny, But Even The French Can’t Have It

The headline figure is simple enough. Renault Group plans to launch 36 new models in the next five years, including 22 in Europe and 14 for international markets. Electrification will be a lynchpin, with 16 of those European launches set to be fully electric.

Hybrids will still have a role, though. Renault says hybrid technology will remain in its European lineup beyond 2030 while continuing to expand globally where charging infrastructure isn’t yet ready for a full EV takeover.

Dacia Expansion

Each brand has its own role in the plan. Renault aims to strengthen its European position while expanding internationally, targeting more than 2 million annual sales by 2030 with half delivered outside Europe, including a production version of the chunky Bridger combustion SUV set to do battle with the Suzuki Jimny in India (see gallery below).

Dacia will stick with its familiar value formula but add more electrification. By the end of the decade, about two thirds of its sales are expected to be electrified and the brand will expand further into the larger C segment.

Alpine will carry the performance torch and a new generation of the A110, this time as an EV, is coming alongside newer models like the electric A290 and A390. And the brand’s boss Philippe Krief confirmed that the electric A110’s platform will also be able to handle combustion power. But if you were hoping to buy one in the United States, Renault’s latest strategy rules out a North American adventure for any of its brands.

Compact Upgrade

One of the most important pieces of the plan is Renault’s upcoming RGEV medium 2.0 electric platform destined for its next generation of compact, C-segment vehicles. This architecture brings 800 volt charging technology to the company for the first time and promises some impressive numbers, including a 40 percent reduction in build costs. Renault teased its possibilities, and also the look of the next Espace, with the the R-Space Lab, a slippery EV concept (shown below).

Renault says EVs built on the platform could deliver up to 466 miles (750 km) of range, while a range extender version could stretch that figure to around 879 miles (1400 km). Power won’t be lacking either. The next-generation electric motor is expected to deliver up to 271 hp (275 PS).

Keeping Up With China

Software is another big piece of the puzzle. Future Renault models will move toward software defined vehicle architecture that allows most functions to be updated over the air and eventually managed by artificial intelligence systems. The company also wants to speed things up dramatically. Renault aims to reduce development cycles for new vehicles to just two years, something that will be crucial to keeping pace with Chinese automakers.

Renault’s platform strategy