BMW Has Officially Purchased Alpina

BMW announced Thursday it has acquired Alpina, the luxury coachbuilder responsible for some of the coolest and most iconic modified BMWs on the planet. Alpina will be absorbed into BMW Group from 2025 onwards, with manufacturing operations moving from the company’s original Buchloe headquarters to BMW’s facilities.

Since 1965, Alpina has worked closely with BMW to build uniquely designed high-performance versions of the German manufacturer’s cars. Back in 2020, the two brands extended their partnership to continue working together developing, manufacturing, and selling Alpina-branded cars until 2025, according to BMW Blog. That deal involves BMW assembling cars on its production lines before sending them to Alpina’s Buchloe plant to be turned into full-blown Alpinas.

That process will change from 2025 onwards thanks to this new arrangement between the brands. BMW and Alpina have agreed not to disclose any financial details regarding the acquisition, but laid out how things will operate going forward. While service, parts, and accessories businesses will go on at Alpina’s Buchloe facility outside of Munich, assembly of Alpina vehicles will be moved to BMW’s main production lines.

This changeover will mean an end to a number of jobs at the Buchloe plant in 2025. BMW says it will “offer those employees who will not be able to continue working at the Buchloe site a new position with the BMW Group and also help them find new jobs with suppliers and development partners,” according to a statement.

What does this mean for Alpina in America? Probably not much. The only way to buy a new Alpina in the U.S. is through BMW. And BMW only sells three Alpina models here in the States: B7, the B8 Gran Coupe, and the XB7. We don’t expect that to change any time soon.

Brian Silvestro

Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.