We have heard all kind of rumors about the relaunch of the Renault Alpine brand, including the possibility to develop a new sports car in cooperation with Caterham. Today, in an interview with AutoCar, Renault marketing boss Stephen Norman confirmed that a new Alpine sports car will indeed appear on the market inside of three years.

He described the new sports car as "not soft", but at the same time "not more hardcore than a Mazda MX-5->ke1185." However, the new Alpine sports car will have the DNA of a French car and will be aimed at buyers who are “either French or Francophile."

The new Alpine will take aim at models like the Porsche Boxster->ke570 and high-performance versions of the Audi TT->ke1081. This means the model should deliver at least 250 horsepower and will be priced at less than £50,000 (about $80k at the current exchange rates). Expect the Alpine to arrive by late 2015.

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