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It's no secret that Renault was looking for a partner to revive its Alpine sports car brand and now the French carmaker says it has found it in the Caterham Group. The two companies made the wedding official today during a press conference in Paris where they announced the formation of a new 50-50 joint venture to develop both Alpine and Caterham-branded sports cars on common underpinnings and built at Renault's plant in Dieppe in northern France.
The Caterham Group will own a 50% stake in the Automobiles Alpine Renault company, which is currently owned 100 percent by Renault SAS. The Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham (SAAC) venture will be created in January 2013 and will be headed by Bernard Ollivier, who became vice president of Renault in 2011.
Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault commented: "This innovative partnership with Caterham embodies a longstanding ambition: the creation of a sports car with the Alpine DNA. It carries both opportunities for the Dieppe plant and the development of its historic expertise."
Renault and Caterham, which already cooperate in Formula 1 racing, where the French brand's engines are fitted on a Caterham-built chassis, said that they will each bring their respective technical skills to the development of the future products through a newly-created joint Engineering Department. The two companies will split the engineering and industrial costs on a 50-50 basis.
"The objective for each company is to launch its own car in this market within the next three to four years," the two partners said in a joint statement.
The Caterham- and Alpine-branded sports cars will share a common platform architecture but according to their makers, each model will "be distinctive, differentiated, and carry the respective DNA" of the two companies.
No other details were given about the future Caterham and Alpine models that will be manufactured exclusively at the Alpine plant in Dieppe (which currently builds RenaultSport production models like the Clio RS and race cars), but Renault officials have previously mentioned that the cars will be rear-wheel drive, without clarifying if the engines will be mounted up front or in the middle.
Renault gave us a taste of what to expect from Alpine in the near future with the stunning A110-50 Concept earlier this year. The study was built on the chassis of Megane Trophy racecar with power coming from a mid-mounted 3.5-liter V6 engine sourced from Nissan rated for 395bhp (400PS) at 7,200rpm and 311 lb-ft at 6,200rpm.
Alpine's first road-going model is believed to be less extreme but also more affordable than what the A110-50 would have cost if it were to enter production.
On the behalf of Caterham, the company's deputy chairman Dato Kamarudin Meranun said he was extremely pleased with the new joint venture with Renault and its Alpine brand.
"Our original plans to develop a partnership with Lotus were put aside in spectacular and well documented style, but now we have a far better chance to develop Caterham Cars in partnership with Renault, working with Caterham Technology who are also integrally involved in this new venture," said Meranun .
"Our F1 team has already been working successfully with Renaultsport F1 since the start of the 2011 F1 season and I am thrilled that now we are adding to our track partnership by joining forces with Renault on the road. Together with Renault, we have now created an opportunity for Caterham Cars to grow into the next stage of its development from a very well respected niche brand into a serious player on the global motoring map."
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Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of Renault commented: "This innovative partnership with Caterham embodies a longstanding ambition: the creation of a sports car with the Alpine DNA. It carries both opportunities for the Dieppe plant and the development of its historic expertise." 
