It’s been nearly three years since the BMW Group expanded to include the ALPINA brand. However, until the end of 2025, it’s business as usual for the Buchloe-based niche marque. That is when the existing agreement between the two luxury brands expires. What will happen starting 2026? We spoke with the BMW Group’s Head of Design about what the future has in store for ALPINA.
Adrian Van Hooydonk assures fans of the ALPINA brand that there won’t be radical changes to the brand’s modus operandi. The BMW Group wants to continue the tradition of having ALPINA cars complement the regular vehicles carrying the famous roundel. He ruled out turning the low-volume automaker into an extension of the M lineup. Instead, future models will be “about luxury but in a very refined way.” He added that upcoming cars will not be as track-focused as Ms but won’t be slow either.
The BMW Group has been hinting at pushing ALPINA upmarket. The intent is to bridge the gap between the fanciest BMWs and the “cheaper” Rolls-Royce models. Adrian Van Hooydonk is confident that future ALPINAs will not clash with cars from the ultra-luxury British brand. The design boss made it clear that there will be nothing shared between ALPINAs and Rolls-Royces.
“It was always called BMW ALPINA, and that’s what it’s going to stay, but it will definitely add something to a BMW.”
As you can imagine, Adrian Van Hooydonk was never going to spill the beans about future products. However, we’ve been hearing the B7 is coming back. It might debut in a couple of years, following the release of the 7 Series LCI. ALPINA will focus on the largest BMW models to the detriment of more affordable products. Consequently, cars like the B3 and XD3 are unlikely to be renewed.
Inevitably, an electric model will happen, even though ALPINA studies have revealed customers are not interested in EVs. Stricter emissions regulations mean the BMW-owned brand will have to comply. The first zero-emission model will likely be based on the next-generation X7 (G67). The fully electric iX7 could spawn an iX7 ALPINA 100 on the CLAR platform.
