It was the first time that BMW had approached the owners of Alpina to ask them if they would like to sell the brand, but the timing was astute.
"The risks for small manufacturers are going up massively," says Andreas Bovensiepen, who with his brother Florian runs Alpina, the company their father founded to tune BMWs back in 1965. "But the opportunities aren't increasing in the same way."
Over an hour with Autocar, Bovensiepen outlines the dilemma facing Alpina, which from its modest tuning and racing roots has become an independent manufacturer in its own right, making fast, luxurious and discreet cars that are 80% finished in BMW factories, owing to a close partnership with the Munich firm.
There's a burgeoning order book: Alpina sold a record 2000 cars last year and expects to repeat the feat until BMW assumes control of the brand's future at the end of 2025. But the future was becoming much harder to call.
Previously, "it was quite clear" which cars Alpina should make, says Bovensiepen, "and we always made the right choices when we made our sales estimates". But its world has changed, particularly since the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
"For companies like Alpina, it becomes more and more difficult," explains Bovensiepen. "In recent years, we had a CO2 arrangement with the European Commission for small-volume manufacturers who make fewer than 10,000 cars a year [whereby some rules are relaxed]. But these kinds of things will change or disappear, and then it gets tricky because if a big manufacturer has a big model range, they can fulfill their overall CO2 target, but we can't.”
Already in France, the Alpina B5 incurs a €20,000 (£16,845) sales tax.
While electrification is "what every politician wants", it doesn't always suit the use case for Alpina owners, who will often "use a car rather than a plane to go [the 243 miles] from Munich to Frankfurt".
Bu hikaye Autocar UK dergisinin August 03, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Autocar UK dergisinin August 03, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
THE DRAMATIC ITALIAN THAT MARKED THE END OF AN ERA
When the Huracán bowed out, the curtain fell forever on Lambo's V10
HOW EV MAKERS CAN WIN THE RACE TO 5.0MPKWH
Manufacturers are honing every detail to close in on big efficiency goal
MASERATI MC20
We bid a sad farewell to a handsome supercar that was easy to live with
The quickening
Instant acceleration is part of the appeal of an EV, but is it all getting a bit much for unwary and inexperienced drivers? JOHN EVANS investigates
Inside track
Watching an F1 race with live access to engineers and telemetry is the stuff of dreams for racing fans. ALEX WOLSTENHOLME makes a day of it
WHOLE IN ONE
The Volkswagen Golf has been all things to all motorists for half a century. At the wheel of a classic Mk1, VICKY PARROTT charts the eight-generation history of one of the world's most successful cars
DACIA DUSTER
Mk3 model gains digital tech, ADAS, slicker looks... Is this mission creep?
MAZDA CX-80 PHEV
Another look at Mazda's hefty SUV, this time in plug-in hybrid form
VAUXHALL GRANDLAND ELECTRIC
Newcomer looks to ease the average family SUV driver into EV motoring
BMW X3 20 XDRIVE
Fourth generation of brand's best-seller arrives with base petrol engine