Alpina plotting performance hybrid
Respected BMW tuner considering hybrid-based Alpina following success with diesel modelsTesla’s success with the Model S is forcing BMW-tuner Alpina to consider hybrids as the key to its high performance future.
According to Brit mag, Autocar, the Bavarian tuner is on the search for its first ever BMW hybrid to give the full Alpina-treatment.
In pole position is the BMW i8 because it runs BMW’s second-generation hybrid technology that Alpina says is “becoming more interesting”.
Speaking at the firm’s recent 50th birthday celebrations, CEO Andy Bovensiepen said: “The thing we have to remember is that our customers like to drive quickly and they also buy our cars to be used daily. And hybrid technology hasn’t been good enough for that up to now. The danger is that the car is terrific for 200 miles, but then the small battery runs out and for the rest of the journey you have a disappointing drive.
“If we have a good technical base of a car from BMW and we also see the sales figures taking off, then we could have a car ready within two years.”
Bovensiepen said that his firm, whose cars now run along the main BMW production line, had also considered creating its first ever LPG performance version.
He also added that Alpina hadn’t forgotten the six-cylinder petrol engine and that the “gains in petrol engines have been very strong” hinting that a new car, possibly based on the BMW M3 or M4 could also be on the cards.
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