70 years ago in July 1955, just a few days after creating Alpine, Jean Rédélé presented his first three A106s to the top management of Renault. By positioning blue, white and red cars in front of the historic building in south-west Paris, the young entrepreneur skillfully set the scene for his ambitions to create a French sports brand based on Renault powertrains. His confidence was infectious, and he quickly obtained the support of the Renault HQ. It was the start of a wonderful adventure – through innovation, industry and motorsports - that continues to this day. The series ‘Alpine, 70 years’ tells the story of this epic tale, full of achievements and challenges, and sheds light on the brands ambition to grow and evolve over the next few years in several themed episodes.
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MotorTranscript
00:00What message can you deliver to the fans of Alpine?
00:05It is not more stupid to keep the Alpine than the shares in the stock market.
00:13Eden of Dama
00:14It's light
00:17Performance
00:20Unique
00:24And above all, very pleasant to drive
00:30The Alpine
00:44It's a historical highlight, it was 70 years ago
00:46and I think the tribute is great because the story continues
00:533 Alpines, blue, white and red, it was very important for my father
00:56who absolutely wanted to represent France
00:58The journey of Jean Redelet is very important
01:01because to know where you are going, you have to know where you are coming from
01:03and we come from Jean Redelet
01:04and like his illustrious predecessors
01:06Henry Ford, Ferdinand Porsche or Enzo Ferrari
01:10he created his own brand
01:12but there is a small difference
01:13which inspires us every day at Alpine
01:16He called his brand Alpine, he did not call it Redelet
01:20as his predecessors did
01:22and that is to symbolize the fact that Alpine is lightness
01:26and in a way it is purity and pleasure
01:47Dad chose to call the brand Alpine
01:49in memory of his victories in the Alps
01:51and especially the Alps Cup that he won on a 4-horsepower 54
01:55My father launched Alpine because he raced a lot in 4-horsepower
01:58and he realized that the 4-horsepower had a wonderful potential
02:02but by making the car a little lighter
02:04using modern materials for the time
02:06he could have a more performing sports car
02:10For a funny anecdote, in 1055 he was racing on an Alpine 106
02:15he finished the race with an hour ahead on the factory 4-horsepower
02:18which demonstrated the performance of the lighter car than the 4-horsepower
02:22He often said, after having driven in the Alps
02:25driving his cars
02:27I had a lot of fun
02:29it's banal but it's fundamental
02:31This value of I had a lot of fun
02:33is what we want to convey to our customers
02:36when they drive cars or have an experience
02:39whatever it is with the Alpine world
02:41and two, it's us, ourselves
02:43we want to have fun doing the job, developing the cars
02:46because if we have fun, the customers will feel it through the product
02:53Alpine
02:56My father defined the DNA of the brand
02:58Alpine had to be light, performing, economical
03:02using high-end parts
03:05and above all, very pleasant to drive
03:08The symbolic models that Alpine had
03:10were the very first one, the Alpine 106
03:13which is the beginning
03:15after that, the Alpine 110
03:17which marked its time in rallying
03:19In the history of Alpine, the 110 played a fundamental role
03:22it gave the most beautiful Alpine laurels
03:25when the car was released in 1962
03:28it was a revolutionary design
03:30and throughout its career
03:32from 1962 to 1977
03:34it only evolved, grew
03:36and became more and more performing
03:38with a secret
03:40which was the Alpine sauce
03:42a bit like Lotus
03:43it was a light car with a fiber body
03:45and a light weight
03:47with relatively modest mechanics
03:49compared to the competition
03:51but the light weight allowed the car to be performing
04:03We have three main challenges
04:05the first is, of course, to launch a range of products
04:07because today, we have the 110
04:09which is our iconic car
04:11but with the ambitions we have
04:13to have only the 110
04:15the first challenge is to launch 7 products
04:17in the next 7 years
04:18in the electric world
04:19because this is another technological challenge
04:21we want to show that we can give pleasure
04:23we can give sportiness
04:25in the electric world
04:26on the contrary, we can even do better
04:28than what is done today
04:29second challenge
04:30we have to develop a distribution network
04:32this is what will allow us to conquer the world
04:3470% of our sales are in France
04:36we have the ambition that in 2030
04:38more than half of our sales will be made outside of France
04:40in Europe, in Asia
04:42and in the United States
04:44the third aspect is perhaps the most difficult
04:46it is to create a brand
04:48today, the brand's knowledge
04:50the brand's desirability
04:51is very strong in France
04:53but as soon as we cross the borders
04:55it is much less obvious
04:56so we have to be able to create
04:58this desire
04:59this recognition of the brand
05:01to position it in the premium brand
05:03this is done with a daily job
05:05events
05:06knowing our customers
05:07with a lot of communication
05:09but also
05:10this is the base of Alpine
05:12through competition
05:20Alpine reached the top
05:21at the beginning of the 70s
05:23especially thanks to the berlinette
05:25which was first European champion in 71
05:27and world champion in 73
05:30after that, other victories came
05:31there was the European championship
05:32on the two-liter prototypes
05:33with Alain Serpeggi
05:35and in 78
05:36the victory at Le Mans
05:37which was also very important
05:39which allowed Renault to go to Formula 1
05:41for my father
05:42Le Mans was an important event
05:44so the first victory at Le Mans in 64
05:46it's the M64
05:48so it's an emblematic car
05:49after that
05:50there were the cars
05:52made with the V6 Gordini
05:54which are the A441 and the A442
05:56which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans
06:06in 1995
06:07my father saw Renault
06:09decide to stop producing Alpine
06:11it was a bit of a heartbreak for him
06:13and what I regret
06:15is that he didn't see the Alpine rebirth
06:17because I think he would have been
06:19very proud to see
06:21the Ascendis again
06:23and even more
06:24to see the Alpine Formula 1
06:29it's the competition
06:30which allows us
06:32on the one hand
06:33to make ourselves a little more known
06:34all over the world
06:35because Formula 1 in particular
06:36has an audience all over the world
06:38which also allows us
06:40to transpose in the Alpine teams
06:42the state of mind, passion and competition
06:44to always want to do better
06:46to always be ahead
06:47and the third aspect
06:48which is important in competition
06:49is the technological transfer
06:50we want to position ourselves
06:51in a premium brand
06:52in France, luxury, sports
06:54there you have to put innovation
06:56and to put innovation
06:57nothing better than
06:59applying solutions
07:01which are developed in Formula 1
07:03or Endurance
07:04on stock cars
07:14The 390 is the second vehicle
07:16of the Dream Garage
07:17it's an electric vehicle
07:18it's a vehicle that wants to conquer
07:20certain markets
07:21since it's a sports fastback vehicle
07:23we say it's a race car
07:26in an evening suit
07:28and it's a bit like that
07:29when you want to have fun
07:30either on small mountain roads
07:32or possibly on track
07:33you'll get exactly the same feelings
07:35as our fire today
07:37it seems impossible to believe
07:39but I can guarantee it's the truth
07:43This year we celebrate
07:44the 70th anniversary of Alpine
07:45but all Alpine is dedicated
07:47to what's going to happen
07:48in the next 7 years
07:49these next 7 years
07:50both in terms of product
07:52and in terms of distribution
07:53and brand
07:54are the ones that will allow us
07:55to put Alpine in the Gotha
07:57of automotive brands
07:58and to make Alpine
07:59a bit like the French star
08:01in this field