Alpina pares back B5 pricing

Alpina has knocked nearly $30,000 off the price of the rampaging B5 Bi-Turbo sedan ahead of its local launch in April.

"We obviously launched this vehicle many months ago at a price point; we've negotiated just recently a reduction to the price. It's going to hit our shores at $210,000 plus [on-road costs]..." Phil Jeffery, Alpina's local sales manager, told motoring.com.au last week.

At $239,000, the B5 was priced at barely $600 less than the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S, which boasts more power and torque. As Jeffery notes, the original price for the B5 not only failed to complement the market positioning of BMW's M5, but was simply uncompetitive in a broader context.

"Too far above its competitors..." Jeffery acknowledged. "And obviously, with the M5 coming through as well – not that the Alpina is a direct competitor to the M5; it's more of a complementary car to that particular brand [BMW] – we needed to price the car very well in a very competitive segment."

The price of the M5 had no significant bearing on Alpina's decision to lower the price of the B5, Jeffery says, but an Alpina exec in Germany has admitted off the record that the company was surprised to learn BMW Australia had priced the M5 at $199,900.

"I don't think it was a direction purely based on the M5..." says Jeffery, "probably more just a strategic price point to have one of Alpina's flagship cars in the country at a price point that's going to come in very competitive against that whole large, luxury, performance-car segment in total."

The B5 price reduction from $239,000 to $210,000 was agreed just days ago, Jeffery says, following discussions between Alpina Automobiles Australia and the brand's head office in Buchloe, Germany.

"That has just been decided by Alpina Automobiles Australia and Alpina [in] Buchloe, literally within the last 48 hours. Basically... it's a negotiation, just like it would be with BMW Australia and BMW AG, in terms of getting price points right for their local market, and I'm sure they have the same discussions with BMW America and all the other countries..."

Alpina is also revisiting its prices for the B3 and B4 models already launched in Australia. Local pricing has been a work in progress for the famous tuning house since it launched here late in 2016. Its B4 Bi-Turbo was priced at $160,900 at the time. But by October of 2016, the pricing for the even more powerful B4 S Bi-Turbo had been set $11,000 lower – at $149,900.

The tweaked pricing may fire up buyers in the market, with Alpina selling fewer than 20 cars per annum.

"The sales, of recently, are starting to incrementally increase, and certainly there starts to be a little bit more understanding of this brand and customer enquiries. We're certainly across Australia, selling the vehicles on a regular basis, but when I say 'regular', don't take that out of context. The volume of this is very small, but we're certainly doing deals for what we would anticipate – right on track."

The importer is not supply-constrained currently, but the Alpina exec anticipates there may come a time when there'll be more of a waiting list for locally-delivered cars, given Alpina's choice to limit production to 2000 units a year, globally.

Jeffery says that sales growth is improving and the importer is content with the current rate of enquiry, but admits that building stronger brand awareness won't happen in a matter of weeks or months.

"Our growth is going to come through more of a long-term plan than a fast sprint off the blocks. The cars are obviously an expensive vehicle; there's a little knowledge about them at the moment, but the people who are buying them really do understand and appreciate exactly what they are, which is a high-performance, luxury vehicle that can be used every single day..."

B5 Bi-Turbo options for Australia:
ALPINA LAVALINA I – $12,253
ALPINA LAVALINA II – $22,244
Merino Extended – $3223
Merino Full – $4920
ALPINA rhombs on headrest – $905
Limited slip differential – $5923
Steering wheel heating – $449
Soft close doors – $1150
Towbar, fully electric – $2262
Sunblinds – $1059
Smoker package – $94
Seat ventilation, front – $1454
Ski bag – $320
Leather Dash – $2243
BMW Individual rear seat reading light – $754
Ambient air – $575
Massage function for driver & passenger – $1866
Remote control parking – $943
TV function – $2065
Apple Car Play – $566
Bowers & Wilkins Sound – $8766
Rear seat entertainment professional – $4366
BMW Gesture Control – $471
Night Vision with Pedestrian Recognition – $3770
ALPINA luxury wood walnut nature – $1659

Full range pricing
Alpina B3 S sedan – $142,900
Alpina B3 S Touring (wagon) – $149,900
Alpina B4 S coupe – $149,900
Alpina B4 S convertible – $159,900
Alpina B5 sedan – $210,000
Alpina B7 sedan – $369,720