BMW has acquired tuning outfit Alpina, 60 years after the Buchloe-based brand produced its first uprated component for a production BMW model.
The two firms have been closely linked since 1964, when BMW started applying factory warranties to cars equipped with Alpina components, but Alpina has remained an independent entity until now.
BMW's acquisition of the company gives it the rights to Alpina's branding and is said to bring "even greater diversity to its own luxury car range", suggesting Alpina's models could eventually sit alongside their BMW counterparts in showrooms.
