At the beginning of the year, the BMW Group officially added ALPINA as a standalone automaker. It sits under the corporate umbrella together with the core BMW brand, MINI, Rolls-Royce, and the Motorrad two-wheel division. We’ll still have to wait a bit longer to see the first car of this new era. In the meantime, some key details have already emerged. In addition to the updated wordmark, there’s also a new logo.
The revised corporate identity was initially revealed only in digital form, leaving us wondering how the physical badge would look. Thankfully, BMW ALPINA’s chief designer, Maximilian Missoni, has taken to Instagram to showcase the real emblem that will appear on future cars. The former Head of Design at Polestar also oversees upper mid-size and luxury BMW models, meaning the 5 Series, X5, and everything above.
As shown in the third slide below, the badge looks significantly more upscale than the digital version suggested, although purists will undoubtedly find reasons to complain. The traditional shield is gone, along with the red and blue accents. These omissions are unlikely to sit well with fans of the Bovensiepen-era ALPINA brand, founded in 1965. Then again, it’s understandable why BMW felt the need to modernize the logo. It signals a new direction for the brand, repositioned as a Mercedes-Maybach rival, above BMW but still below Rolls-Royce.
BMW itself is adopting a similarly minimalist approach with its roundel. The iX3 is the first to receive the flatter, more contemporary design. Starting this month, all BMW models will feature the revised logo. The 7 Series G70 facelift, known internally as “G72” for the ALPINA version, is unlikely to wear BMW badges, instead adopting the new ALPINA logo. Likewise, the next-generation X7 (G67) will probably forgo BMW badging for the X7 G69 part of ALPINA’s lineup.
The new ALPINA badge will appear in all the usual places, including on the redesigned wheels BMW has been teasing. The company is reworking the iconic 20-spoke design for the return of the ALPINA-badged 7 Series. Although its parent company hasn’t officially announced any electric models, ALPINA will likely give the i7 and the first-ever iX7 its signature treatment. Using a throttle body and crankshaft in the logo on cars without combustion engines could spark controversy among traditionalists who remain loyal to the old ways.
But it’s worth noting that the historic ALPINA company still operates in Buchloe under the ALPINA Classic brand. It will no longer build new cars but will instead service vehicles produced before BMW acquired the brand. Of the 60,000 cars built over six decades, approximately 40,000 are still on the road.
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
