Alpine A110’s Strong Demand Leads To Production Ramp Up

Alpine will boost the A110’s production output in a bid to reduce waiting times that currently stretch to more than a year.

Renault’s gamble to revive the historic brand paid off so far, with the company having already received 5,000 reservations for the A110 after the initial 1955 Premiere Editions sold out.

Such strong demand has caused waiting times to expand to 14 months, according to Regis Fricotte, Alpine’s head of sales and marketing who spoke to Automotive News. In order to tackle this problem, the Dieppe factory will increase production to 20 cars a day, from the current 15.

Alpine hasn’t officially opened the order books yet for the A110 at its 49 European dealers, with prospective customers still only able to make a 2,000-euro ($2,350) reservation in order to secure a place on the waiting list. The first batch of Premiere Edition models were sold out in less than five days.

Alpine has started production of the A110 Premiere last year in December and has since built 1,200 examples. Despite the commercial success however, Renault has been reluctant to outright increase production of the new Alpine.

“Currently, our first priority is quality — and our second and third. Then we talk about quantity,” said Sebastien Erphelin, Alpine’s interim managing director.

The new Alpine A110 is powered by a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine producing 247 HP and 236 lb-ft (320 Nm) of torque. With a weight figure of just 1,080kg (2,380lbs), the Alpine A110 is capable of hitting 62mph (100km/h) from a standstill in 4.5 seconds.