As Renault’s revived Alpine brand is getting ready to roll out the first examples of their sports car next year, new reports indicate that the company could add an SUV to its line-up in the future.
According to Caradisiac, such a vehicle shouldn’t be expected until the turn of the decade, and even if it’s still too early to talk about what it will be like, the report states that Alpine could actually cooperate with Mercedes-Benz for its development.
This practice has a precedent, with the Renault Nissan Alliance luxury brand Infiniti using the compact Merc for its own QX30 crossover. If this is the case, the Germans are expected to ‘lend’ the GLA’s platform to keep its research and development costs down, but that doesn’t mean that the French SUV will be a rebadged Mercedes.
In fact, it’s expected to bring a different exterior design and a new cabin layout, joined by some of the vehicle’s petrol and diesel engines, which could be topped by the 2.0-liter turbo used in the AMG derivative. Lesser versions will have to do with front-wheel drive, while the more expensive models will gain all-wheel drive.
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