► New Alpine A390_β unveiled
► French brand’s first family SUV
► Conceptual look at 2025’s fastback
Think crossovers and SUVs all look the same? Boxy, big and a little too much? Well, the deep thinkers in Dieppe are here to shake things up with the new Alpine A390_β – a thinly veiled conceptual look ahead to next year’s production crossover that deigns to take the best bits of the A110 sports car and transfer it to more everyday family life.
It sounds a tall order, but here’s the proof: the concept car that will be unveiled at next week’s 2024 Paris motor show. The Alpine A390_β is an all-electric fastback that aims to rewrite the definition of sporting, coupe-influenced crossovers that’ve become modestly popular since the BMW X6 created the genre back in 2007.
It’s roughly the length of an Audi Q6, at 4.7 metres long, but it’s worth observing the lower ride height; at just 1.5m tall the Alpine crossover is treading a much sportier dynamic.
When can I buy the Alpine A390?
What you see here is firmly rooted in concept car cloud-cuckoo land: you should ignore the handclap doors, absence of a B-pillar and much of the wackier details including illuminated wheel hubs – but the raw design principles of the A390_β are destined to survive into production.
Alpine has confirmed it will go on sale by the end of 2025, priced to compete with the BMW iX2 and sportier Tesla Model 3 derivatives – let’s say around the £50k mark.
That kind of premium positioning is in line with Alpine’s market strategy: it’s not chasing volume, but rather high-margin, profitable sales.
The design story: can Alpine possibly hope to create an A110 on stilts for family use?
That, in a nutshell is the plan. Purists may wish to take a deep breath, but the designers of the A110 have deemed to replicate the sporting dynamism of the smash-hit A110 in a taller package. So there is a new interpretation of the brand’s distinctive face, a neatly wrought wraparound rear window that really does echo the sports car’s and, of course, Alpine’s familiar Bleu Specular rich blue paintwork to chime with the rest of the fledgling range.
‘It’s all about duality,’ said design chief Antony Villain. ‘It’s a racing car in a tuxedo.’ Strip away the hyperbole, and you can see that the A390_β ramps up the sporting vibe to position the upcoming production car in the right space.
Hence why the concept car’s interior has two modes: it’ll flip from more relaxed driving mode with comfort chairs to a driver’s seat more akin to an F1 driver’s position – with dynamic seats that flip from road car to race buckets on command. In a similar fashion, the rear of the car extends to create a longtail rump for improved aero.
Parent group Renault has form with shape-shifting bodywork (remember the Renault Morphoz concept car of 2020?) but this is merely a designer’s flight of fancy. The production car will be a more conventional shape with fixed bodywork and regular mirrors in place of the concept’s cameras.
What is realistic is the fastback silhouette. The sloping roofline is very much confirmed for the 2025 Alpine A390 production car and Villain promises showroom versions will offer five seats and a ‘usable’ loadbay competitive with rivals’.
Alpine’s vice president of product, Sovany Ang, described the concept car as ‘85% true to the final production car.’ We suspect you can remove some of the minerals in the interior and the Alpine snow-effect rear seat will surely be deemed too difficult to productionise at the historic Dieppe HQ where the A390 will be built…
Alpine A390_β specs: three motors and a performance bent…
While you can tone down the design of the beta concept car, the engineering is very much on-point. The A390 will be equipped with three electric motors, to ensure very Alpine performance and handling.
Each rear wheel has its own motor, with a third unit up front for all-wheel drive as standard. Tellingly, Alpine is not planning a single-motor version – in line with its premium market aspirations.
The company has been developing sophisticated torque vectoring for the past five years and it showed CAR videos of the A390 prototype testing alongside a regular Alpine A110, engineers claiming the two produced identical laptimes. It’s hard to stomach the promises of ‘lightweight engineering’ when no kerbweight has been confirmed for the A390 and there’s a large lithium-ion cell stacked along its spine, but Alpine is using some lightweight materials – including carbonfibre – in the concept car to keep mass in check.
No word yet on the battery size and specs (‘it is quite a big battery,’ confirmed Villain), so it’s too early to call EV range or performance figures. The Alpine A390 production car is based on the Amp-R Medium platform that will underpin most of the medium and larger electric vehicles in the group.
The concept car rides on large-diameter 22-inch wheels shod in Michelin Pilot Sport tyres.
Anything else we need to know about the Alpine A390?
Alpine’s expansion plan is becoming clearer with each passing month. The A390 is the company’s first move into the family sector – a much higher-volume segment than today’s sports coupe niche. It currently produces just 4500 cars a year globally each year, remember.
That number is set to swell significantly with the arrival of the Alpine A290 electric hot hatch (a reworked Renault 5 EV) and now the A390 fastback crossover. ‘Our products are conquest cars – they will appeal to a new type of customer,’ said Villain.
His boss Alpine Cars CEO Philippe Krieff told CAR that sports cars would always remain at the heart of the brand, but that it was necessary to expand into further niches to ensure the company’s long-term success. One new model will launch each year until the end of the decade:
- Alpine A290: 2024’s electric hot hatch
- Alpine A390: 2025’s fastback crossover
- Alpine A110 coupe: 2026’s new all-electric coupe
- Alpine A110 Spider: 2027’s new-electric convertible
- Alpine A310: 2028’s 2+2 sports car spun off the A110
If you’re struggling to get your head around the badging and nomenclature, understand this: the ’10’ part of the name signifies sports cars, while ’90’ means practical, everyday vehicles. Meanwhile the first digit refers to the model hierarchy. See? It’s devilishly simple, really…