The Renault-Caterham tie-up might not be that important to the French party – after all, they just want to make some sports cars – but for the Brits it means a sea of new opportunities to grow bigger. So only a day after they signed the papers, news emerge that Caterham is pondering the possibility of using Renault engine for the new generation of their Sevens.

As announced yesterday, Caterham will acquire 50 per cent of the Alpine brand, which under the new Alpine Caterham company will be making sports cars for both companies. For Renault it will probably be a production version of the A110 to begin with. For Caterham, a new, upgraded Seven sounds like a viable option.

Caterham owner Tony Fernandes of course has bigger plans for the firm. He’s dreaming of turning Caterham into a bigger business; something like Lotus. And it’s not just sports cars he’s thinking about. Rumor has it he wants Caterham to grow beyond that, maybe even make a crossover!

Before all that though they need to get busy with Renault’s order for a proper sports car, which is why for the time being they are going to stick to the current plans: “At the moment we’re committed to the Sigma and Duratec engines. They have a lifetime in our product plans and they deliver what we want in terms of characteristics and keeping the costs where we want them. But they do have a finite life and who knows after that? If Renault can do that then clearly the relationship is there.” Said Caterham Cars boss Graham Macdonald.

via Autocar