The 470 HP Alpine A390 Could Become America’s First French Car In A Generation

French cars have always been an oddity in America. These cars seemingly come and go every couple of generations or so and always bring along plenty of weird along for the ride. There has long been a drought of proper French cars here in America, and now that might change. France might be headed back to America with the Alpine A390, an all-electric SUV that could provide America a dose of French style and 470 HP, but it’s not really the car enthusiasts have been looking for.

How do you define what a French car is here in America? If you go by where a vehicle is manufactured, then France never left. The Smart Fortwo was built in France and sold in America until 2019. Ineos, which bought Smart’s old factory, now sells its Grenadier off-roaders to Americans. But neither of these brands are really French, they just have factories in the region.

Then you have Bugatti. This brand started its life in Germany, and moving borders made it a part of France before its light died out. When Volkswagen AG revived Bugatti in 1998, the brand was headquartered in France. So Bugatti is technically a French brand, even though its ownership and a lot of its engineering come from Germany. But such is the state of the automotive industry today, where brands are truly global.

If you ignore the hyper-exclusive and hyper-expensive Bugatti, America has been without a proper French car since Peugeot packed its bags and flew back home in 1992. Peugeot said it was coming back to our lands in 2019, but that has yet to happen. Renault had a harder time, officially punching the clock in 1987 when Chrysler broke up Renault’s relationship with AMC, but remaining Renault cars managed to sell into 1992.

So, Americans have been yearning for sporty French cars for too long.

Comeback Story

In 2023, Renault said it wanted to make an American comeback by way of its sports car subsidiary Alpine. At the time, Alpine figured it could hit the market by the end of the decade. The estimate then shifted to perhaps 2027 or 2028 with Renault’s boss saying that we’d probably get a midsize crossover and then an even larger SUV.

Both of these vehicles are a far cry from the sexy, sporty coupes that Alpine is historically known for. I mean, the current A110 is so hot that, as you’re about to read, even Alpine can’t help itself from comparing this crossover to that car. Sadly, we’re not getting that one.

Yet, if you’re a Porsche Macan EV shopper and you want something a bit different, I suppose you might find Alpine’s new A390 appealing. But that’s even if Alpine can navigate the troubled waters of tariffs.

The A390 was teased in 2021 and 2023, then previewed last year by the Alpine A390_β SUV (above), which Alpine has ambitiously described as “like an A110 with five seats.” The concept car, as shown last year, was said to look about 85 percent similar on the outside to what the production model unveiled today looks like.

It appears that nothing has changed with the production A390. The vehicle is said to have the agility of the A110 sports car, but with room for five and touring abilities. What’s pretty cool is that true to its word, Alpine has kept the production vehicle’s design pretty close to the concept up there.

The interior is a whole lot less weird. Instead of the funky thing shown in the concept car, the production A390 has a lot of familiar bits from other Alpine and Renault products. That steering wheel comes from last year’s A290, while the drive selector is ripped right out of the A110. The two 12.3-inch instrument cluster and 12-inch infotainment display are shared with Renault products. That dashboard also looks awfully similar to what’s found in the Renault Scenic E-Tech or a Megane. Yet, while the interior is a parts-bin special, it should also be a very nice place trimmed with Alcantara, carbon fiber, or leather, depending on the exact trim level.

The A390 will go into production in this year or 2026 in Alpine’s historic Dieppe factory, with batteries coming from Dunkirk, powertrains coming from Cleon, and final assembly in Douai. It rides on the modular AmpR Medium architecture. Other vehicles riding on this scalable platform include the Nissan Ariya and the Renault Scenic E-Tech. The future Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross EV is also said to ride on this platform.

Alpine says that this version of the AmpR platform has a completely new Alpine-designed chassis settings, including Alpine-specific steering, suspension, and braking. It’s all powered by a new 89 kWh (usable) battery made for Alpine by Verkor.

When the A390 goes into production, it’ll become Alpine’s first-ever SUV. It’ll be a quick one, too, featuring a three-motor drive system with AWD, torque vectoring, and even a Track mode. Two of those motors power the rear axle, and in the top-spec GTS model, the trio is good for 470 HP and 596 lb-ft of torque. The base GT model is said to have these motors putting out 400 HP. Alpine says that the 470 HP model is good for a sprint to 62 mph in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 136 mph, which sounds pretty decent for something weighing 4,676 pounds.

There’s also a neat videogame-like Overtake function, which boosts power for 10 seconds. The “power-up” then cools down for another 30 seconds before you can use it for 10 seconds again.

Something so gloriously French about the A390 is its suspension. There’s no air suspension or similar here, but hydraulic shock absorbers, just like much of history’s most beloved French cars.

As far as size goes, Alpine quoted a length of 181.7 inches, a height of 60.3 inches, and a width of 74.2 inches wide, or not far off from a Genesis GV60. Alpine says the A390 should hit a range of up to 344 miles on the WLTP cycle. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the figure land somewhere near the Porsche competition.

A390 ordering opens for customers in Europe late this year. At launch, the A390 will join the A290 hot hatch as Alpine’s second-ever EV. Larger A490 and A590 SUVs are said to follow, and one or both of these could also hit America, too. It seems like Alpine is taking a page out of Porsche’s book and is using big crossovers to fund sports cars. But, unlike Porsche, Alpine isn’t sending us sports cars in addition to crossovers.

Likewise, while Alpine really wants to come to America, the situation has become quite complicated. As you noticed above, this car is thoroughly French, which means it would be slapped with America’s car tariff. Alpine wants to have this car on our roads in 2027, but American launch plans have been put on ice until the tariff situation gets worked out. Alpine is hoping that a deal between America and Europe will be worked out soon, and thus, it won’t have to change its launch plans here.

While this may not be the news that sports car enthusiasts have been expecting, it’s still cool to see that more brands are willing to bring something neat to America. More choice is always better, and maybe, if these chunky sport utes sell enough copies, we can also get some sports car fun, too. Either way, French cars might be headed back to America again, and hopefully, they’d be here to stay.

(Update: Clarified that Bugatti didn’t so much move to France as borders changed around the automaker.)