BMW and Mini tuning specialist AC Schnitzer will be ceasing all operations before the end of the year, likely leaving no successor to pick up the badge and carry it into the future.
In the announcement, the German tuner says all fabrication will stop later in 2026. All current projects will be wrapped up and no new orders will be accepted. For a while longer, the company plans to keep doing maintenance on its existing cars and selling the leftover stock. Once that phase is over, it will become history.
Commenting on this tough decision, AC Schnitzer CEO Reiner Vogel predominantly blamed it on constantly growing costs. According to him, designing and fabricating parts in Germany can be prohibitive compared to some other markets.
He also pointed out the red tape of the local controlling bodies due to which the company had to wait for months for its tuning products to get approved for road use. Competitors from less bureaucratized jurisdictions would end up always releasing heir offerings faster than AC Schnitzer could ever hope to, according to him.
Remarkably, though, the company found enough courage to admit its own mistakes. One of the biggest ones was failing to attract the younger audiences. Per Vogel, since it very inception in 1987, AC Schnitzer had catered to the same conservatively minded audience while neglecting the tastes and preferences of the newer generations. As a consequence, it had come to be associated with something rather stale and retrograde.
Last but not least, Trump’s tariffs have played a role, Vogel says. Out of all the industries impacted by the tariff war in Germany, the automotive industry was hit the most. While some businesses had the resilience to carry on, the tuning company found itself stranded without the means to continue.
KOHL Group, a part of which AC Schnitzer was, said its operations would continue as normal with the tuner gone.
