Seemingly out of nowhere, the BMW Group announced in March 2022 that it would expand its portfolio by taking over the ALPINA brand name. The surprise transaction did not affect the existing agreement between the two companies, as the five-year contract signed at the end of 2020 remained unchanged. However, as December 31st approaches, time is almost up.
But how did the BMW Group come to buy the niche car manufacturer? Andreas Bovensiepen, son of the late ALPINA founder Burkard Bovensiepen, explains in an interview with Hagerty how everything developed. In an interview with journalist Henry Catchpole, the person responsible for the Buchloe-based company recalled that the first discussions took place in 2021.
“BMW spoke to us in 2021 and said, ‘Okay, the future is going to be electric. It’s going to be a lot more electric. It’s going to be a lot harder for everyone to make good money in the future because everything requires more software.’
It is becoming more and more complex and the regulations are becoming more and more strict. Whether it’s pedestrians, whether it’s surveillance systems in cars. But you have a really cool brand with a great story and we would be interested in buying your brand.’”
So there you have it: BMW approached ALPINA, not the other way around. Andreas ultimately decided to part with the brand name and continue to run the company under the ALPINA Classic banner. Of the approximately 60,000 vehicles built over 60 years, around 40,000 cars are currently preserved. ALPINA has been certified as an automobile manufacturer by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV) since 1983.
The decision to abandon the brand name in favor of an electric future makes perfect sense. In 2021, Andreas told our sister site Bimmer today that his customers simply had no interest in electric vehicles:
“We conducted a customer survey on the topic of hybrid and electric. Our customers are currently not feeling any demand for battery-electric models.”
But the BMW Group sees it differently. Even though the company has not yet explained its plans for the ALPINA name from 2026 in more detail, reports about electric models are increasing. The 7 Series “G70” facelift coming next year will reportedly spawn an ALPINA “G72” version with an i7 70 xDrive. That’s not all. According to rumors, the second-generation X7 (“G67”), due to appear in 2027, will receive a variant with the ALPINA “G69” badge and an electric range-topping iX7 100 xDrive model.
There will still be BMWs with an ALPINA touch from the Bovensiepen brothers. Andreas and Florian have founded their own company, Bovensiepen Automobile, to build small series body cars. It’s unclear whether they’ll all be based on BMWs, but the first is a Zagato-designed coupe that actually started life as an M4 convertible.
Video: Hagerty / YouTube
