The final car to come from Alpina as it has existed for the past 60 years will be a limited-run special edition of the XB7 luxury SUV.
Due to be revealed on Friday, it’s described by new Alpina owner BMW as an “exclusive, limited-production” model “for the United States and Canada”.
It isn’t the first BMW-developed Alpina model, despite the tuner having entered the Munich manufacturer’s ownership on 1 January; rather it was developed under the founding Bovensiepen family.
Autocar understands that a deal to produce the limited-run special was done before the Alpina brand entered BMW’s ownership.
The unveiling of this new XB7 is a landmark moment, ending Alpina’s 60-year history under the Bovensiepens.
The Buchloe company’s final standalone model was the 8 Series-based B8 GT saloon, revealed in January 2025.
The first Alpina developed solely under BMW is set to be revealed later this year, wearing the new branding that was revealed last month.
Alpina was established by Burkard Bovensiepen in 1965 as a BMW tuner but with the status of an independent manufacturer providing factory warranties.
It has historically been revered for its subtly styled performance saloons and coupés, such as the 3 Series-based B3 and D3.
The Bovensiepen family agreed to sell Alpina to BMW in 2022. As previously reported by Autocar, they sold up because their ethos is one of ‘no compromise’, something they didn’t believe possible in the electric age.
Hiring capable software engineers to differentiate electric Alpinas from their BMW counterparts would have been crucial but also ruinously expensive, Andreas Bovensiepen said.
BMW said in 2022 that acquiring Alpina would allow it to “bring “even greater diversity to its own luxury car range”, and it has since appointed former Polestar design chief Max Missoni to guide Alpina’s styling.
It has promised that Alpina will henceforth offer “an extraordinary range of bespoke options”, positioning it as a high-performance foil to rival Mercedes-Benz’s ultra-luxurious Maybach brand.
The Bovensiepens have since established an eponymous car company and revealed its first offering, a modified BMW M4 coupé with coachwork by Zagato.
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