The expected arrival of the Alpine-Caterham sports car is still a few years away, but Renault boss, Carlos Tavares, has already made it known that the sports car will compete against the Alfa Romeo 4C and the Lotus Evora->ke3240. Tavares did clarify that the Porsche Cayman->ke5 may be a little out of reach for the brand.

“It would be arrogant to say we could go head-to-head with Porsche and win,” Tavares told Autocar. “But I think Lotus and Alfa are realistic targets.”

Tavares also hinted that Renault, Alpine's parent company, will give the latter the freedom to "express themselves", something that it wouldn't be able to do as much if Alpine had to go through Renault regarding specifics about the future sports car.

Meanwhile, Laurens van den Acker, Renault's chief of design, is hoping that the future sports car, which will be based on the A110 Concept, will be a springboard that will re-launch Alpine as a brand that will soon build and develop a range of other sports cars. Clearly, a lot is riding on the success of this model.

“We all love Alpine within the company, but this first car will be a measure for us of how much other people love it,” he said.

“If it is a success, then yes I can see space for us to expand."

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