In acquiring rights to the Alpina brand, BMW will move vehicle tuning operations in-house by the end of 2025.
Alpina
- BMW will buy the trademark rights to the Alpina brand, bringing the longtime tuner in-house as the electrification age arrives.
- The Buchloe-based tuning house has been working on BMW models for over 50 years, including the development of race cars.
- After 2025, Alpina-tuned BMWs will no longer be adapted in Buchloe, Germany, but instead will come directly from BMW factories.
BMW revealed plans this week to acquire the trademarks to the longtime tuning house Alpina in a move reminiscent of Mercedes’ purchase of AMG years ago. But there are a few crucial differences, including an end to Alpina-tuned BMWs as of 2025.
Known for its penchant for green paint and gold stripes, Alpina has been around far longer than some BMW enthusiasts might guess, getting its start as a BMW tuner in 1965, manufacturing typewriters and some other industrial components prior.
Based in the small town of Buchloe, Bavaria, the company was founded by Burkard Bovensiepen, focusing on BMW drivetrain components including crankshafts early on, while also crafting components used in race-going BMW models.
Just like AMG, over the years Alpina had grown closer to the company whose models it adapted. A number of official collaborations saw Alpina-tuned models built on BMW assembly lines (such as the B7 Alpina) and sold through BMW dealerships, while other models came from BMW factories to Buchloe for Alpina modification.
BMW says its current agreement with the tuning house was extended in 2020 through the end of 2025.
The newly revealed trademark acquisition agreement is expected to cement BMW’s ties to Alpina’s brand, but no company shares will actually be purchased by BMW, in contrast to Mercedes’ purchase of AMG years prior. So Alpina itself is not changing hands, with the plan being closer to a brand management agreement through a certain date.
Alpina had offered tuning programs for BMW models for decades, including this E28 5-Series from 1983.
Silverstone Auctions
The deal, therefore, is mostly aimed at BMW’s usage of trademark rights, with the German automaker set to play a more direct role in Alpina’s evolution. After 2025, Alpina-tuned BMWs will no longer be adapted in Buchloe but instead will come directly from BMW factories.
This means job losses in Buchloe, but BMW plans to work with Alpina to offer employees positions within the BMW Group and its component suppliers. After 2025, most Alpina activities in Buchloe will involve maintaining service, accessories, and parts business in the long term.
2022 BMW Alpina B8 Gran Coupe.
Tom Murphy
“For over fifty years, the Buchloe firm has demonstrated how to deliver top-quality car cachet through meticulous attention to detail,” said Pieter Nota, member of the BMW Board of Management responsible for Customer, Brands and Sales.
“The BMW Group is also driven by this same passion for cars that capture the imagination. That is why we are now embarking on a new chapter in our long-standing partnership. Acquiring the trademark rights will allow us to shape the long-term course of this brand steeped in tradition. We are delighted to welcome the Alpina brand to the BMW family.”
Shifter of 2022 BMW Alpina B8 Gran Coupe.
Tom Murphy
It’s difficult to overlook the turmoil facing the auto industry as this purchase agreement is signed, as BMW pivots toward battery-electric vehicles with plans to introduce at least three this year.
As such, traditional German tuning houses such as Alpina that have focused on improvements to internal-combustion engines now are facing a future in which their expertise will apply largely to interior and exterior design, electronic performance tweaks and performance hardware.
A number of Alpina models had been sold through BMW dealerships in the recent past, including in the U.S.
Alpina
Just what role in-house tuners could play in the coming decades was perhaps already answered by Mercedes-AMG’s debut of the sportier EQS sedan, which could soon see a Brabus version as well. If combustion engines face their predicted demise, longtime tuning houses will have to adapt.
BMW says the Bovensiepen family will continue to lend its engineering expertise to producing and selling gas- and diesel-engined BMW Alpina models through the end of 2025, while maintaining the service and parts business into the future.
“We recognized the challenges facing the automotive industry early on and are now setting the right course for Alpina and for our family firm, Bovensiepen. This marks the beginning of a new chapter,” said Andreas Bovensiepen, co-managing director of Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH + Co. KG.
“Both the Alpina brand and our company are extremely desirable. We made a conscious decision not to sell Alpina to just any manufacturer, because BMW and Alpina have worked together and trusted one another for decades. That is why it is the right decision strategically for the Alpina brand to be managed by the BMW Group in the future.”
Keyword: BMW Buys Brand Rights to Longtime Tuner Alpina