Alpine ‘A590’ Porsche Cayenne rival could unlock a future US launch
The French sports car brand is considering a larger electric car that takes its cues from the A390
You could say that Alpine has a lot on its plate over the coming years. We’re going to get the new A390 mid-size coupe-SUV, then the electric A110 sports car, then the A310 2+2 coupe. Beyond that, the bold product plan gets a little more fluid, but Alpine’s stated aim of growing the EV line-up to seven cars remains, and one of those cars is likely to be a flagship SUV, of sorts.
Speaking to Auto Express at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Antony Villain, head of design for Alpine, said, “We need something for the D and E segment”, strongly suggesting a new flagship SUV will be introduced to sit above the recently revealed A390 SUV.
At the launch of the A390, Alpine CEO Philippe Krief revealed to Auto Express how the firm’s thinking has evolved since then. There are no firm plans to enter the US market but it’s on Alpine’s radar and it’s felt a larger car would be needed in addition to the forthcoming electric A110 that rides on the new APP (Alpine Performance Platform) architecture.
“We will be ready to go to the US with APP. We need to go to the US with A110 because this is the heart of Alpine. But in the US, maybe, it won’t be enough for dealers and our partners to sell. And maybe we need to have something more. The thought we had one year ago was a big SUV. Now we are back in the phase of thinking what we need for the US market.
“We certainly need a model with higher volumes, but don’t want to make the mistake of going to the US with a big car that is outside the DNA of the brand.”
Alpine is reluctant to describe the A390 as an SUV and has coined the term ‘sports fastback’ for its sleek mid-size model. The car is only a single centimetre taller than the A290 hot hatch with a curving roofline and pronounced haunches that limit rear-seat space but create a sporty look to support the engaging driving experience. With up to 464bhp from its tri-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain, this is Alpine’s large car DNA and could be replicated by a future A590 flagship SUV.
Krief sees the A390 as an alternative take on the SUV blueprint applied by other brands, with driving emotion at its heart: “Certainly, we will never travel from that. The A390 feels like an SUV that is completely different. This is something we need to guarantee and if we are not able to do a car with this kind of feeling, we won’t do the car.”
Alpine large SUV name and platform
Although unconfirmed, the Alpine 590 model name would adhere to Alpine’s existing naming structure. The vehicle would sit above the A290 hot hatch and the A390 coupe SUV in the brand’s lineup of models with the ‘90’ suffix. This range is known internally as ‘Versatility’ and it’s separate from the ‘Iconic’ line of cars, which includes the A110 and future A310, with ‘10’ suffixes.
Unlike the new electric A110, which uses Alpine’s APP platform, the A390 rides on a heavily modified version of the Renault AmpR Medium technology that also underpins the Scenic and Megane. This platform doesn’t currently support anything larger than the A390 and Nissan Ariya, both of which are around 4.6 metres long.
The A590 would need to be either a D or E-segment SUV, giving Alpine a competitor for the likes of the BMW iX, Lotus Eletre and the Porsche Cayenne EV. Renault has previously said that the platform has capacity to underpin cars with up to seven seats but with these rival large SUVs getting close to five metres in length, it’s unclear whether the French firm’s tech could be stretched that far.
Alpine design focus
Alpine has said it is committed to having a familiar design language throughout its range of EVs – a set of quad headlights arranged in a ‘V’, a curved rear window inspired by a crash helmet visor, and a side profile with a curved roof. The Alpenglow hydrogen hypercar concept is an indication of how the design language will evolve on future models and we can expect to see more styling elements from that car on forthcoming Alpines.
While Alpine is aiming to keep its future line-up desirable to enthusiast drivers through the cars’ performance and looks, ergonomics are also an important consideration for the brand. The Alpine A110, partly by virtue of being launched back in 2017, has plenty of physical buttons inside for climate functions and regularly used features – although the newer A290 hot hatch and A390 SUV have deviated from this approach with larger screens supported by physical switchgear.
Antony Villain pointed out that Alpine drivers “want to focus on driving and you don’t want screens everywhere”. He also added that “buttons are important for Alpine” and said that its cars will have “lots of physical buttons”.
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