BMW to acquire Alpina, targets pinnacle of luxury

BMW is on the verge of acquiring Alpina, a small but highly respected German tuner that has for long built its own versions of BMWs.

The firm is being absorbed into the BMW corporate universe after 57 years of an arm’s-length partnership.

Development of new Alpina versions of BMWs will end at the company’s headquarters in Buchloe, Germany, after 2025, the automaker has confirmed.

Alpina started out making performance parts for BMW decades ago, and grew into a performance manufacturer itself.

Specifically, Alpina started out in 1965 producing go-fast parts for BMWs and later tuning models, eventually becoming a manufacturer itself—albeit churning out upgraded BMWs—in the early 1980s.

Alpina BMWs have come to deliver performance near that of BMW’s high-performance M products, with beefed up engines and transmissions, but with a focus on retaining comfort and luxury over outright rawness.

According to MotorTrend, a motoring website, the move to grab Alpina’s name and its trademarks is billed as a saviour-esque move; while Alpina saw great success in 2021, BMW feels that with the rapid electrification of the industry, tough times are ahead for small manufacturers such as Alpina.

And to preserve the brand and shepherd it into this new era, BMW is acquiring it so that it may continue to deliver specialised sport-luxury vehicles with the iconic Alpina name to its customers.

As 2025 approaches, and should BMW’s takeover of Alpina be approved by regulators, the company will be adjusting Alpina’s workforce, either re-assigning some to positions within BMW Group or helping them find new jobs elsewhere in the automotive industry.

 

In an official reaction to the move, Alpina says, “The politically driven transformation to electric mobility as well as tightening worldwide regulatory demands—especially on vehicle emissions, software validation, and requirements on safeguarding driver assistant and supervisory systems—means the demands and risks for small-series manufacturers are increasing.”

Alpina CEO Andeas Bovensiepen was quoted as admitting that electrification was a huge challenge that the small company would struggle to overcome.