AUTONEWS
Alpina displeases his great partner
Specializing in BMW models, Alpina has always remained true to the Bavarian brand, just as it only works with German ZF transmissions. But to stay true to his own philosophy, the German preparer has to make choices. The latest, made public by Motoring, is outright refusal to work on BMW's new front-wheel drive architecture. Among other things, because that would require switching transmission providers, namely the Japanese Aisin.
Andreas Bovensiepen, Alpina's top manager and son of the company's founder, confessed to the publication that he has no interest in investing in projects based on the UKL architecture, a platform that was introduced in 2014 in the Mini hatchback and that since then it now serves the front-wheel drive BMW - Series 2 Active Tourer and Gran Tourer, passing the X1 and X2 and, more recently, Series 1.
Bovensiepen justifies its position with “too high development costs”, with the aggravation of falling into lower price segments. Therefore, where it is less likely to guarantee interesting profit margins.
Considered a vehicle manufacturer by the German Government, unlike other companies in the industry, Alpina modifies BMW cars from the assembly line, completing the preparation at its headquarters in Buchloe. This is where the engines are produced manually, which is why the company is keen to use the same block on different models. “We had a V8 for the Series 5, 6 and 7. We use the same diesel on the X3 and the Series 5 and we only have a six-cylinder petrol, which we use on the Series 3 and Series 4,” explains Andreas Bovensiepen.
UKL requires the engine and transmission to be mounted transversely, which would cost Alpina to refuse to pay. “It's better for us to stick to ZF's inline engines and gearbox,” says Bovensiepen.
Specializing in BMW models, Alpina has always remained true to the Bavarian brand, just as it only works with German ZF transmissions. But to stay true to his own philosophy, the German preparer has to make choices. The latest, made public by Motoring, is outright refusal to work on BMW's new front-wheel drive architecture. Among other things, because that would require switching transmission providers, namely the Japanese Aisin.
Andreas Bovensiepen, Alpina's top manager and son of the company's founder, confessed to the publication that he has no interest in investing in projects based on the UKL architecture, a platform that was introduced in 2014 in the Mini hatchback and that since then it now serves the front-wheel drive BMW - Series 2 Active Tourer and Gran Tourer, passing the X1 and X2 and, more recently, Series 1.
Bovensiepen justifies its position with “too high development costs”, with the aggravation of falling into lower price segments. Therefore, where it is less likely to guarantee interesting profit margins.
Considered a vehicle manufacturer by the German Government, unlike other companies in the industry, Alpina modifies BMW cars from the assembly line, completing the preparation at its headquarters in Buchloe. This is where the engines are produced manually, which is why the company is keen to use the same block on different models. “We had a V8 for the Series 5, 6 and 7. We use the same diesel on the X3 and the Series 5 and we only have a six-cylinder petrol, which we use on the Series 3 and Series 4,” explains Andreas Bovensiepen.
UKL requires the engine and transmission to be mounted transversely, which would cost Alpina to refuse to pay. “It's better for us to stick to ZF's inline engines and gearbox,” says Bovensiepen.
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