It is true that getting a kit car registered in France is very difficult/nigh on impossible, but Caterhams are not viewed as kit cars. I met Graham Nearn at a do at the British Embassy in Paris about 10 years ago, not long before the Nearn family sold Caterham. He was there because the commercial section of the embassy had (with some difficulty) persuaded the french authorities to recognise a lower level of homologation for the 7 than that which was required for large series mass production cars, and since then have offered a fairly comprehensive range in France.
http://www.caterhamfrance.com/showroom/showroom.html From the press release it seems to me more about benefitting from the tie in at F1 to develop a new Renault Alpine sports car. Renault do have form on this type of collaboration - their original collaboration with Alpine of course, but also the early (plastic bodied) series 1 to 3 models of the Espace were built in a joint venture with Matra.
