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Performance,
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Renault
It was a nice idea while it lasted, but evidently it wasn't meant to be. The joint venture established between
Renault and
Caterham to launch a new sports car has now come to a crashing halt.
The partnership was forged in 2012 against the backdrop of increasing ties between the two companies: the
Caterham F1 team was running Renault engines, Tony Fernandes wanted to put Renault engines in the road-going Caterham Seven, there was talk of collaborating on all manner of vehicles and a sports car seemed like a natural place to start. Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham was established at the historic
Alpine factory in Dieppe, France, with each partner holding 50 percent. The goal was to launch a pair of sports cars to be based on common architecture but differentiated for sale by both partners by 2016.
Unfortunately, tensions began to flare between the English and French parties to the joint venture earlier this year. Disagreements emerged over certain parameters, and development was delayed. Now Renault and Caterham have announced the dissolution of the joint venture altogether.
As a result, Renault will take over Caterham's stake in the operation, dropping the latter's name from the venture that will now be known strictly as Société des Automobiles Alpine, the term "société" having a more corporate connotation in French than a social one and the company now essentially becoming another division of the Renault Group that also includes
Dacia and
Renault Samsung Motors along with strategic alliances with
AvtoVaz and
Nissan (including
Infiniti and
Datsun).
Moving forward, both Renault and Caterham still plan to launch their own sports cars independently, and while the Alpine joint venture may have dissolved, the announcement jointly released
below doesn't rule out "other forms of cooperation" between the two in the future.
Continue reading Renault and Caterham officially dissolve Alpine partnership
Renault and Caterham officially dissolve Alpine partnership originally appeared on
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23-07-2014, 05:20 AM
