Is Alpine's 'gaming generation' push the right approach?

The Alpine A290 has been designed to capture the attention of Generation Z. Will this approach succeed in winning sales from that audience, though?

Ask enthusiasts in their twenties what their favourite hot hatch is and most will describe something that has been fitted with a huge tailpipe and given a pop-and-bang engine tune. An EV obviously can’t provide either, so why the fakery?

Then there's the faux exhausts in the rear bumper, which are meant to resemble fans from a gaming computer.

This detail is apparently an in-joke between the designers and Renault Group boss Luca de Meo, but it doesn’t land very well, and feels slightly mocking as a result.

There’s also the age-old issue that very few zoomers (or millennials, for that matter) can afford to rent a room in a big city, let alone afford what is expected to be a £40,000 car.

Alpine faces quite a challenge to overcome, then, but if anyone can make it work, I’d bet on its engineers, steeped as they are in Renaultsport’s history of world-beating hot hatches.

Charlie Martin

Title: Editorial assistant, Autocar

As part of Autocar’s news desk, Charlie plays a key role in the title’s coverage of new car launches and industry events. He’s also a regular contributor to its social media channels, providing videos for Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter.

Charlie joined Autocar in July 2022 after a nine-month stint as an apprentice with sister publication What Car?, during which he acquired his gold-standard NCTJ diploma with the Press Association.

Charlie is the proud owner of a Fiat Panda 100HP, which he swears to be the best car in the world. Until it breaks.

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