news

Mercedes-AMG chief denies Alpine engine deal

Recently a rumour surfaced recently that Mercedes-AMG was in the running to provide the engines for an expanded range of Alpine sports cars. It isn't true, according to Mercedes-AMG chief Tobias Moers.


The premise was simple – the revived French brand, Alpine, which is under the control of Renault, would take advantage of an existing agreement between the French and German brands in order to get engines from over the border.

No, it wouldn't be the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engines used in the high-performance versions of the A45, CLA45 and GLA45 models in the Alpine rear-drive small coupe. Instead, the reference was to the potential to use a six-cylinder AMG powerplant in the bigger Alpine coupe that will follow.

Moers told CarAdvice in an exclusive interview at the 2016 New York motor show that there was no truth to the story.

“I read it as well,” he said of the story that did the rounds on internet sites worldwide.“But that’s all that I know. Nobody has talked to me.”

When asked if it could happen, he replied, quite abruptly, “no”.

“I think there would be the first chance to have a common understanding about the piece price of an engine.

“It’s not necessary. There’s no need for us to do so,” he said. “It would not be supportive for our brand, so why should we do that?”

Good point – though a lot of potential Alpine customers were probably getting excited about the notion of a French sports coupe with such an engine (in the Mercedes-AMG E43 it pumps out a walloping 290kW/520Nm).

That’s well beyond anything that Renault has anything on its books. The gruntiest engine that it has of the turbocharged variety is that used in the current Renault Megane RS – a 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit with 195kW and 360Nm, though it does have a couple of diesels with more grunt.

Perhaps the more logical option would be to borrow from the Nissan GT-R, with the updated version of the 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 in that car churns out 419kW/632Nm.

MORE:Alpine Showroom
MORE:Alpine News
MORE:Alpine Reviews
MORE:Alpine Showroom
MORE:Alpine News
MORE:Alpine Reviews
Chat with us!







Chat with Agent