Alpine A390 review

I saw this car a couple of years ago in sneak-peak concept form. Alongside the lithe-and-lovely A110 coupé, it felt huge, clod hopping and underwhelming. The PR was overcooked as well, promising such clichés as ‘sports car handling’, along with a ‘magic-carpet ride’ and ‘phantasmagorical time travel’; I might have lied about that last one.

‘Oh goodie,’ I wrote in my notebook, ‘another hepped-up family SUV, I can’t wait.’

Crowded this market most certainly is. At the time of seeing the A390 concept, there were about 40 competitors in this C-segment crossover/SUV market. At the time of writing, a fair assessment is 53. Still, as 19th century French economist Jean-Baptiste Say wrote, ‘Supply creates its own demand’ and still they come, ploughing ever more product into this controversial and much-criticised market sector. As one industry acquaintance put it: ‘if you aren’t in it, you’re standing on the stoop tearing up 50 buck notes.’ I still wonder, though, whether customers buy so many of these cars because they genuinely like them, or because they’re what’s available.