It’s taken nearly 60 years, but Alpina is finally going to be an official part of BMW. The brand 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. Alpina, a standalone company, has in place an agreement to furnish its wares through BMW dealerships through 2025, but with BMW’s acquisition of the rights to the company, that relationship will now change.
For now, Alpinas are built in Buchloe, a region of Bavaria (and where BMW also is based). 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.
Why? Because it sounds like BMW, which already starts the production of every Alpina vehicle in its own factory, before shifting the model to Alpina’s Buchloe workshop for final assembly and modification, will bring most if not all of that final work in-house. BMW says the “service, parts and accessories business for the existing and legacy BMW Alpina vehicle portfolio will continue at the Buchloe location in the long term.” The site also will host “a further expansion of the existing development services business for BMW.”
The move to grab Alpina’s name and its trademarks (though, interestingly, no direct shares in the company) is billed as a savior-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. To preserve the brand and shepherd it into this new era, BMW is acquiring it so that it may continue to deliver specialized sport-luxury vehicles with the iconic Alpina name to its customers.
While this BMW-Alpina development might sound like a redux of Mercedes-Benz’s long-gestating takeover of AMG in 1999—like Alpina, AMG was technically a standalone company offering tuned Benzes and parts but with a close relationship with Mercedes—consider that BMW already has its own AMG: BMW M GmbH. M started out as BMW’s motorsports arm, and has been in-house for decades. We’re interested to see what becomes of Alpina’s current lineup, which in the U.S., at least, consists of the B8 Gran Coupe, B7 sedan, and XB7 SUV, as BMW dives into its electric future.
Keyword: BMW Will Finally Acquire Alpina To Become the Pinnacle of Luxury