AMG chief looks ahead

On the back of double-digit growth in 2012, AMG has become a shining light in the Mercedes-Benz empire.

We sat down with AMG Chairman Ola Källenius to talk about the CLA 45 AMG, the future of the SLS and when his cars will turn electric.

AMG has repeatedly said the

For a lot of people in the US and parts of Europe, the check-out criteria was all-wheel drive. We didn’t have it, so they didn’t look at us any closer.

We now have the CLA 45 and we have the new E 63 with AWD and the CLS 63 with AWD and with it, a clientele that maybe have not come to AMG before.

At the top of all of those cars sits the SLS. It has done well for you and there are many rumors about whether you replace that car or create a smaller version to sit alongside an all-new SLS. What’s your take?

With the SLS, now that we have that platform, we will remain in that segment. We are in that segment to stay.

Eventually this SLS runs out but we create something, which comes after that.

We can use the SLS platform to do other things. We have no plans to go to another platform for this kind of car.

It’s not just the SLS that eventually runs out. Its V8 has old-fashioned multi-point fuel-injection in a direct-injection world…

The naturally aspirated engine that we love will eventually move over; on all fronts the 5.5 has taken over all of our cars and SUVs.

The trend is clear to downsizing and turbocharging; to driving down emissions and efficiency.

With the four-cylinder we have taken the same internal technology as the 5.5 and what is left is the segment in between. Then you do the math on what comes next.

We feel comfortable that we came in with the right thermodynamics and piezo direct-injection technology. We get peak power and a huge advantage in emissions. We are a long way ahead of Euro 6.

That 2.0-litre is at the thermodynamic stress level of what is absolutely possible with this capacity today.

There are rumors about something even more extreme than the SLS. You have never denied them, but with the LaFerrari and the McLaren P1, the hypercar thing seems to be taking off again and you’re not there.

We don’t need to. In some ways, if you look at this market, we are already there with Pagani and he is about to have the Huayra homologated for the US so he will double his volumes.

When Pagani started, he was inspired by Fangio. He always had this urge to make his own car and for him the only choice to power the car was Mercedes-Benz.

He convinced Mercedes-Benz and AMG to support him as an engineering partner. If you are completely formal about it, we are a supplier but we have to work in partnership.

We put together a team to work with his first car. Since then we have had a team that is almost part of his development team. We still sell that engine to him.

And are you and Pagani, or just you alone, looking at electric performance boosting of your cars like Ferrari and McLaren?

Hybrid is going to be in the future of even sports cars. When will there be a pure performance high-tech AMG hybrid? We still have a lot of areas of improvement in the AMG engines we have. We have promised another 20 per cent [fuel consumption] reduction by our 50th birthday.

We will do the hybrid when the market is ready for it and in markets -- if we have to do it -- due to their regulations.

We can act and react relatively quickly if we see a change. We can use Mercedes-Benz technology in the cars very fast.

The issue is that we can’t make the battery weight disappear with a magic wand. Fortunately, with the new F1 regulations, what they are working on and what we are working on are converging.

And don’t forget the SLS Electric Drive. We have not committed to a number on the Electric Drive but there are test drives of it every day.

For some people, it won’t matter what technology you have in the V8, because they will only consider V12s. How do you see their future in your downsized world?

We did a major overhaul of the V12 last year. It has EU6, so it’s absolutely safe for years to come. It has start-stop and a general overhaul.

We lifted the torque to 1000Nm. The gearboxes that are there for 1000Nm are very few and there are not that many makers asking for 1000Nm capability.

It’s viable for a minimum of five or six years.

We have seen BMW’s M move to a half-way brand with diesel performance engines. Is that in your future?

We should never say never to a diesel or anything else, but I cannot see a circumstance that would change that possibility for us

What the diesel cannot do compared to a direct-injection gasoline engine is the aggressiveness and pure delivery and sound, and the advantage a diesel has in economy is growing smaller all the time.

We are not changing the AMG brand to accommodate diesels.

But you will change the AMG brand to accommodate compact vehicles?

We will do at least three of the Mercedes-Benz compact vehicles: the A 45 and CLA 45 plus one more [believed to be the GLA 45 baby SUV – Ed].

And, as you see, we do these things faster than we did. In the old days the lag behind Mercedes-Benz was nine to 12 months. Now it’s six to nine months and in the future it could be even closer.

Several years ago we changed our development so that when they’re in the concept phase, so are we.