The first models launched by Alpina under BMW ownership will be based on the X7 SUV and 7 Series limousine – and the brand is considering both ICE and EV variants.

The Munich manufacturer officially took control of the 60-year-old BMW tuning firm on 1 January after acquiring it from its founders, the Bovensiepen family, in 2022.

The first models to wear the new BMW Alpina badge will start “from the top of the [BMW] brand, with 7 Series and the X7,” BMW Group R&D boss Joachim Post confirmed on the sidelines of the new electric 3 Series' unveiling.

In its previous iteration as an independent brand, Alpina's line-up was capped by versions of the 7 Series and X7. 

The 7 Series and X7 will both be heavily overhauled later this year, in line with BMW's strategy of rolling out its Neue Klasse design and technology elements to all model lines, and the first new-era Alpina models will follow.

Asked if this meant Alpina would also offer EV variants, with the 7 Series currently offered with either ICE or electric power, Post said “we are technology-open”.

Further details of the cars – and the brand strategy in general – remain under wraps, but Post said they will be designed and configured with the same philosophy in mind as before.

“Alpina will talk not about sport but speed, comfort and luxury,” he said.

Despite now being in-house, Alpina will not overlap with the M division but rather operate as “an exclusive standalone brand” with its own distinct attributes. 

Post said: “[Alpina] is completely different from a level which other people like from M, which is the performance.

“That fits very well [in the BMW brand]. You have the very sporty side of M – born on the race track, made for the road – and the other, which is speed, luxury, comfort on the way and also individualisation."

This is also the case with design, M design boss Oliver Heilmer told Autocar.

“We wondered in the beginning if there is anything that might overlap,” he explained. “We were looking into the energy based on the past and then looking into the M projects and what they're standing for - and they are so different in their work.

“Alpina, as you know it now, is more like having something mature, whereas M is always purpose-driven in terms of the best performance.”

BMW previously said that Alpina would offer a “remarkable portfolio” of bespoke options, with a focus on high-quality materials and craftsmanship.

It added that would make each Alpina car “an exclusive object for connoisseurs in pursuit of the extraordinary, without compromises on performance, comfort and individuality”.