Abiteboul will combine his roles with Renault and his mission at Alpine

It was a short and concise institutional press release that got the word out. Thursday September 3, Renault revealed a “ organizational development project » articulated around 4 commercial entities: Renault, Dacia, Alpine, and New Mobilities. 

Each of its “business units”, to use Renault’s anglicism, aims to be autonomous. Their creation, organization and implementation were entrusted to group executives, under the leadership of the new CEO, Luca de Meo, who took office at the beginning of July. 

A name immediately caught the eye of observers of the F1 in the list of division managers, that of Cyril Abiteboul. The French manager was entrusted with the mission of managing the division Alpine. Does he not already have enough on his plate with his dual role as general manager of Renault Sport Racing, which includes customer competition, and team principal of the Renault F1 Team? 

« I can work even more, don't worry about me, said Abiteboul on the sidelines of the Italian Grand Prix. Luca de Meo arrives with great ambitions and a real vision for the Group by placing 4 brands at the heart of the system. 

He has big plans for Alpine. He entrusted me with a mission, which is in addition to my usual activities within the F1 team: to propose several avenues for building an organization aroundAlpine. It is up to me to structure the brand, not to manage it. This is not a permanent or open-ended role. There is no question of changing the team's management structure during this mission.

For the moment, Alpine, it's just one model, the A110. But we want to do more. We need a structure, an engineering department, a division in charge of the product, another which takes care of sales, marketing, and communication. This is the kind of file that I like to deal with, to build a platform and an infrastructure. On the other hand, I am in no way involved in the marketing strategy. It will be up to Luca de Meo to choose how he wants to highlight the different brands ».

• Global strategy soon to be revealed

Alpine Would it be intended to join, or even replace, the Renault Sport brand? Synergies already exist since several models of the sports range have been assembled in the Dieppe factory (Seine-Maritime) where theAlpine New generation A110 (re)launched in 2017.

While the future of the site appeared uncertain at the end of May in light of the massive savings plan of 2 billion euros and 14 job cuts, including 600 in France, announced by the group, the Normandy facilities finally obtained a reprieve of a few years. Questioned on these strategic subjects, Abiteboul preferred to kick in. 

« These questions are not for me, replied the French manager. These are decisions that affect business strategy and therefore fall under the responsibility of the CEO. 

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that with the new Concorde Agreements, F1 offers a stable platform and superb exposure. Afterwards, as for how we want to use this showcase, I leave it to the CEO to express himself on the subject. 

I would just say that we are flexible with multiple brands. We will probably have to embark on the path of rationalization given the group's financial results. But first of all, there is a strategy to present and it is not up to me to do it ». 

Luca de Meo will have the opportunity to clarify the situation in due time.