Yet another BMW modifier is reaching the end of the line, with AC Schnitzer ending its manufacturing and tuning operations before the end of the year.
Established as a road car tuning business in 1987 after the success of the Schnitzer Motorsport BMW racing team in the 1970s and early 1980s, AC Schnitzer became one of the go-to brands for BMW modifications, alongside Hartge (now defunct) and Alpina (now owned by BMW)
Coming up just shy of its 40th anniversary, AC Schnitzer’s owners – the Kohl Group – have said there are many factors behind the business being wound up, namely over-regulation and a failure to capture younger generations.
“Steadily rising costs in the development and manufacture of parts are creating competitive disadvantages,” AC Schnitzer said in a media release.
“In particular the extremely long approval process for parts in the German system has caused AC Schnitzer to fall behind its non-German competitors.”
The manufacturer also called out the US’s tariffs, raw material prices, unfavourable exchange rates and a demise of suppliers as major reasons why its business case has dried up, as well as the “gradual phase-out of the internal combustion engine”.
In addition to this, the brand lashed out at the media for portraying “buyers of vehicle enhancements through aftermarket parts” as “eccentrics or posers”.
“It is certainly also true that we – like other tuning companies – have not succeeded in inspiring young customers to enjoy sporty driving with our brand to the same extent as their fathers’ generation did,” Kohl Group managing director Rainer Vogel said.
According to the Kohl Group, the business is “in talks with parties interested in acquiring the AC Schnitzer brand”, however it said that “regardless of the outcome of these discussions, existing inventory will be sold off by the end of the year”.
As reported earlier this year, Alpina – another famed BMW tuning brand – is now under control of the German car giant, with production of its vehicles to be moved under BMW’s roof.
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