Last year, Franco Colapint’s arrival at Formula 1 It generated the rage of hundreds of thousands of Argentine fans who turned to social networks to express their admiration for the Pilarense pilot. And on January 9, that relationship showed another high peak after the confirmation of the Alpine team, which will change the relationship with the national automotive industry.
Alpine is a brand of Renault, a company with a great career in the Argentine industry. In fact, its Santa Isabel factory is about to turn 70. And the president of the Rhombus brand in the country, Pablo SibillaHe knows perfectly what he can represent having Collapint in his ranks.
“Franco’s arrival at Formula 1 will have a tremendous impact on sport and fans monitoring with the category,” said the executive in talk with Clarion Wearing a shirt with the #Vamosnene legend, the same one that posted the global CEO of the Renault group, Luca de Meo, to welcome Franco to Alpine F1 Team.
Sibilla knows that the arrival of Colapinto to the Renault world will favorably affect the image and interactions that the public has with the company: “Sometimes things occur, Here the planets aligned And I think he arrives at a very good moment of the brand, “he gets excited.
What cars will handle when you come to Argentina, what are the “Alpine” versions that Renault will sell in the local market and what are the next plans of the brand in the country, of all those details it was chatted with the president of Renault Argentina .
How will the relationship between Colapint and Renault be
On Thursday, January 23, Franco Colapinto entered managing a Renault Espace to the facilities of Estone, in England, headquarters of the Alpine team. And that image is what Pablo Sibilla wants to be repeated on Argentine soil: “Colapint has relatives in Argentina, comes to the country, and that will be a moment of contact with us. Of course it will circulate in brand vehicles“.
-Did they have contact with Franco after the Alpine announcement?
-We have had contact and it shows it hooked this with the brand, which has so much history in our country. I think he is very happy, not only because of the possibility he is having sports. It is not any brand for him and the truth that was shown was hooked.
-How do you see the impact that Collapinto can have for Renault in the country?
-Enormous. We already saw what it generates on social networks. The Alpine team, for example, had 1.7 million followers on Instagram before arrival. Franco was announced and in 24 hours he rose to more than 4 million. That is the effect it generates.
Pablo Sibilla, president of Renault Argentina, with a shirt with the #Vamosnene legend, in relation to the arrival of Colapinto to the Alpine team.-The Alpine brand is not sold in Argentina, would you like to bring it?
-Yes but it’s not so simple. It does not depend exclusively on having to offer it in our market nor is it something that can be defined from one day to the other.
-However, there will be “Alpine” versions of Renault models.
-Yeah. In Cariló, for example, we anticipate the Arkana Esprit Alpine, a new model that will arrive in March with terminations and aesthetic details related to the brand of sports models.
-Will other models have “Esprit Alpine”? Regional models like a Kardian, for example?
-Could be. What I can anticipate is that Arkana will not be the only special vehicle that we will have in Argentina. That does not mean that the first “Esprit Alpine” will be, but we will have others without a doubt. The group is aware of that and everything that Franco mobilizes, so I think it will be very positive in general.
Pablo Sibilla, with the Renault Arkana Esprit Alpine, the first “Alpine” that will arrive in the country.-What moment of Renault Argentina arrives this collapint firm with Alpine?
-How told you, the planets were aligned. There is a complete renewal that goes from the range of models to the dealers, the visual and collapint image will come to join that and it will give us a very complete something in all this offensive in brand that we are doing in Argentina.
-This year also the Santa Isabel factory turns 70 and is the project of the new pickup, how are the preparations for the future model?
-We approve the end of the year stop to start making all the adaptations on the line to receive the robots for the new pickup of half a ton. That is super advanced. We are still under works. And if you go to the factory today you will find many works, because we are also making changes in the image of the factory, taking advantage of the fact that it is the 70th anniversary to be prepared for the future.
-Will rehearsals with prototypes be tried this year?
-It would be more at the end of the year. Anyway, there are prototypes and also mules. So, there you are going to see a vehicle that forcibly looks like a current Oroch, but below it carries the structure of the new model. There are many ways to test the platform, the engine and the box. For a trained eye you will see a half weird vehicle, but common people will not notice the difference.
Renault Niagara prototype, which anticipates the shapes of the pickup that will be manufactured in Córdoba.-Will the final silhouette and the name of the truck be known this year?
-No, I don’t believe because we have other things to unveil. Before we have to present other vehicles that will also be part of our range renewal. Like a medium SUV, for example.
-And that medium SUV will advance the face of the new pickup?
-Vas to find familiarity because like any brand. Today we are looking for one to look at the vehicle from the front or back and say This model is a Renault. Then there is a familiarity with the cars. Then in the half ton pikcup you will see things of the new Renault, such as the Arkana, for example.
At the end of 2024, Renault offered the Kwid again in Argentina.-How do you see the year for the sector?
-The year is pretty good. It comes with an intense rhythm. Calculation that can be a market of 480,000 vehicles. But there gives us a surprise and goes a little more. January comes a good rhythm, we believe it will be a fairly positive year.
-Now with the release of imports, what will Renault the range in Argentina be?
-It will be a mix. On the one hand, our range of the International Plan for Latin America that will have the new Renault genetics and that we already saw in Kardian. And that is what we will see in the medium SUV and in the pickup of half a ton. And then, of course, complement with imported vehicles that today opens imports.
-What favored and what did he harm have had a stable dollar all last year?
-The automotive is an industry in which exchange variations have a strong impact. Therefore, having a stable dollar allows you to plan, allows you to stabilize prices and from there, with stable prices, the customer buy again, buy more. That is, it is not an accident that the automotive market is growing, it is growing because prices stabilize. And thus begins back a job in which all brands are trying to win a client and that is positive for the client.
-Do you worry the arrival of new Chinese brands or that other brands that are asleep begin to wake up with offers that directly compete with Renault?
-I think it’s inevitable. What can worry me is when there is competition that is not transparent to everyone. That is why there are so many countries that have put barriers with respect to Chinese imports, but ultimately I think it is basically good for the client that is more offer.
