If you are lucky enough to have met a BMW with this LOGO on the road, don't be too surprised, it is not a copycat BMW, but Alpina Alpina.
BMW's close cooperation with Albina lasted for more than half a century, and it was not until recently that BMW officially announced the acquisition of Alpina, thus ending this love run spanning half a century.
Alpina's Buchloe plant in Bavaria is scheduled to cease production in 2025 and maintains a long-term cooperation agreement with BMW until December 31, 2025. At that time, 300 employees at the Buchloe plant will be arranged by BMW with the help of new jobs.
Where did Alpina come from
If you look closely, the Albina's logo has a crankshaft and carburetor painted on it, and even if you don't know anything about Alpina, you can probably guess that it's a brand built for performance. And the founder of Alpina is indeed a performance obsessed Bimmer.
Burkard Bovensiepen, the founder of Alpina, is a rich second generation who loves to modify, and in order to increase the power of his BMW 1500, he independently developed the Weber double carburetor, which increased the power of the BMW 1500 by 15%. The move was not only well received by BMW executives, the Weber double carburetor also received an official warranty from BMW, and the wild modification plant was transformed into BMW's royal label.
The establishment of Alpina can be described as a collection of BMW's thousands of loves, from the initial modification of only carburetors and crankshafts, to the later upgrade to an independent car manufacturer, BMW is even willing to produce frames and bodies for Albina separately, and then send them to Alpina's factory for assembly. This cooperation model of "being held down and fed by God" seems incredible, but it can save a lot of costs for both sides, and also ensure the quality of the modified car.
Why BMW bought Alpina
Instead of M's fierce appearance, Alpina hides a raw engine underneath her low-key, gentle exterior.
Take the pinnacle of the Alpina B7 as an example, BMW's 4.4-liter V8 engine is boosted to 600 horsepower here, with a peak torque of 749 horses and zero hundred acceleration of just 3.5 seconds. However, it is difficult to find out the difference between it and the BMW 7 Series from the appearance.
But in the face of a new round of energy revolution, it is difficult for a "small workshop" like Albina to sell 2,000 units a year to survive on its own strength.
It is undeniable that Alpina has a very special appeal among niche brands, BMW needs Alpina to further develop the personalized market, and Alpina also needs BMW to give more support.
In fact, Alpina and BMW's M department do not coincide, but interpret the dedication to performance in two different ways. Referring to Audi's Horch and Mercedes-Benz Maybach, Alpina is likely to become a sword for BMW to enter the higher-level luxury market.