Alpine-Caterham sports car deal to be cancelled?

The sports car joint venture between Renault and Caterham is rumoured to be on the verge of collapse, following months of speculation regarding tensions between the two companies.

Renault announced in 2012 that it was planning to resurrect the Alpine brand with a new sports car, teaming up with Caterham whose Formula 1 team uses Renault engines. The 50:50 joint venture company, Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham, was slated to build the two cars at Renaultsport’s Dieppe plant in France, the historical home of Alpine.

The trouble started earlier this year when lukewarm response from customer clinics forced Renault to put the styling of the Alpine back to the drawing board. This pushed the introduction of both cars back to late 2016 at the earliest, as Caterham would have to modify its design – which had been set in stone months before – to follow suit.

As of now, the two sports cars are still set to be unveiled on schedule, although it is unclear whether they will continue to share the same platform and powertrain. Earlier reports claimed that Alpine model was expected to produce around 250 hp, while Caterham’s would be pushing closer to 300 hp. The target weight was set at 1,100 kg.

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