The Aachen-based KOHL Group will transfer the AC Schnitzer brand to AM Group, a Rotterdam-based holding company focused on vehicle personalization, performance engineering, and premium parts distribution, in November 2026. The agreement comes six months after KOHL announced in March that AC Schnitzer would cease operations as a manufacturer at the end of 2026 unless a buyer was found, citing rising development and production costs, German parts-approval timelines that ran eight to nine months behind competitors, and softening demand for tuning products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
AM Group operates in more than 30 countries and already owns Urban Automotive, UBC Composites, GP Products, and Absolute Motors. The company says AC Schnitzer will keep its own identity and engineering-led approach while gaining access to the group’s design, research and development, carbon fiber, and manufacturing capabilities, along with its dealer development and international sales network. AC Schnitzer operations will move into a newly formed German company, and the existing technical documentation and TÜV certification files will transfer to that entity.
Imran Arshad, co-founder of Evolve Automotive and Eventuri, will join AC Schnitzer as managing director and work with AM Group on product and brand strategy. Rainer Vogel, managing director of AC Schnitzer under KOHL, said AM Group provides the resources the company needs to grow and reach new customer segments. AC Schnitzer was founded in 1987 and builds performance upgrades, suspension components, aerodynamic parts, wheels, and complete vehicle programs for BMW and MINI models, with road-legal homologation as a core part of its development process. KOHL’s March statement said remaining AC Schnitzer inventory would be sold through the end of 2026 and that warranties and after-sales support would continue beyond that date. The brand reaches its 40th anniversary in 2027.
