AC Schnitzer, the Aachen-based BMW tuning specialist, has been thrown a lifeline after the KOHL Group agreed to sell the brand to AM Group, a Rotterdam-based holding company. The deal is expected to close in November, and while the purchase price has not been disclosed, the transaction preserves far more than a badge.
The sale includes AC Schnitzer's technical documentation and its TÜV approvals, assets that are arguably as valuable as the name itself. For a company whose business has always extended well beyond wheels and spoilers, those engineering files and homologation papers are the foundation on which any future product range must be built.
The agreement follows a difficult year for the tuner. In March, KOHL announced that AC Schnitzer would wind down its tuning operations by the end of 2026, citing rising costs, a challenging German market, regulatory delays, exchange-rate volatility and weaker demand for tuning products. The company also acknowledged a generational problem: it had struggled to inspire younger customers in the way it once did, a particular concern as BMW accelerates towards electrification and cars become increasingly software-driven.
Rather than allow the brand to disappear, the new ownership structure gives AC Schnitzer another shot. A new German company will oversee the business, with Imran Arshad, co-founder of Evolve Automotive and Eventuri, taking over as managing director. The arrangement combines established German engineering know-how with Dutch ownership, a mix that the new backers will hope can steady the operation while it plans for the future.
Founded in 1987, AC Schnitzer built its reputation on a broad range of upgrades for BMWs, including engine modifications, exhaust systems, suspension components, aerodynamic parts, wheels and interior fittings. Its long association with Schnitzer Motorsport gave it a motorsport pedigree that few aftermarket firms could match, and during the golden era of German tuning it became one of the names most closely linked with modifying BMWs.
That heritage is not the only asset changing hands. The existing business will continue selling inventory through the end of 2026, with KOHL guaranteeing warranties and after-sales support beyond that date. The arrangement provides breathing room for the new owners while they put their plans in place, and it protects customers who have already bought into the brand.
The new owners also inherit a product catalogue that reaches beyond BMW's latest generation of cars. AC Schnitzer has developed parts for MINI and even for Toyota, courtesy of the GR Supra, a model that shares much of its engineering with the BMW Z4. Keeping the engineering files, homologation paperwork, dealer network and decades of brand recognition together gives the business a much stronger foundation than a simple sale of the name would have done.
For enthusiasts, the outcome avoids the worst-case scenario of a warehouse full of leftover wheels and a logo on a wall. AC Schnitzer had seemed destined to become another casualty of the changing automotive landscape, so the rescue is a genuinely surprising turn of events. The brand's value lies not only in its history but in the technical know-how and regulatory approvals needed to keep developing road-legal hardware for modern BMWs.
The open question is what the new owners do with it. If they can preserve what made AC Schnitzer special while adapting to BMW's increasingly electrified line-up, the marque could enjoy a second life. For now, the immediate priority is continuity: completing the sale, supporting existing customers and preparing the business for a future in which the definition of tuning is itself changing.