BMW ALPINA’s first car under full BMW ownership arrives in 2027, and it will be offered as both a V8 and, eventually, an electric. The Bovensiepen family sold the ALPINA name to BMW in 2022 partly because electrification had made their position untenable — tightening emissions regulations were squeezing low-volume manufacturers, and making an electric ALPINA feel like something more than a rebadged BMW would have required software engineering resources the company simply didn’t have.
Andreas Bovensiepen put it plainly: their ethos is “no compromise,” and he didn’t believe that was compatible with the electric age. BMW disagreed, bought the brand, and now has Maximilian Missoni — formerly design chief at Polestar, now BMW’s Head of Design for Upper Mid-Size, Luxury Class, and ALPINA — figuring out what an electrified ALPINA actually looks like.
We sat down with Missoni at a roundtable at the 2026 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este (full interview coming soon), where BMW had just pulled the covers off the Vision BMW ALPINA — a one-of-one V8-powered grand tourer. The electrification question came up directly. His answer: “I would say the same rule applies as we have for BMW as a brand, so technology openness, so even ALPINA will offer both powertrain options.”
When pressed further: “The customers will have a choice out of the portfolio of powertrains of the respective BMW vehicles, and then they will get the ALPINA treatment and be maxed out in terms of power and performance and comfort and luxury, but it’s the same offer — that’s the beauty of being within the group.”
First Production Series BMW ALPINA Arrives Next Year
The first production BMW ALPINA model arrives in 2027, based on the 7 Series. Internally coded as the G72 rather than the G70, according to our sources, it’s expected in more than one variant — a departure from the single B7 that ALPINA has historically offered. Whether the B7 name comes back at all is unclear. Suffixes like 80 and 100 have been floated for other planned ALPINA models, though nothing is confirmed for the sedan specifically.
For the launch car, there’s no ambiguity on powertrain: ALPINA boss Oliver Viellechner told Top Gear the V8 is a core pillar of the offering — “a pure V8 without a plug.” An EV follows later. Viellechner was direct about why: “We believe we will need non-combustion variants going forward. It will not be so relevant at the beginning, but we will also find it difficult to launch a combustion-only brand these days. If you look to markets like China, for example, I could not see that as the right strategy.”
The Bovensiepens reached the same conclusion. The difference is they reached it with no way out. BMW ALPINA gets to actually build the cars.
