NEWS
The Benz brand off-shoots
AMG Sport and Mercedes-Maybach are branches of a new structural tree, with Mercedes-Benz forming the trunkThe Australian market is rife with companies selling their cars in two tiers – volume and prestige.
It might be two sides of the same coin – as in HSVs sold through Holden's dealer network. Or it might be two distinct sales channels, such as Toyota and Lexus, or Nissan and Infiniti.
Mercedes-Benz and its AMG brand have been closer in purpose, perception and operation to the Holden/HSV model. But now the three-pointed star is taking a leaf out of BMW's book, having announced AMG Sport – a brand sandwiched between Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG. It's aimed at achieving the same ends as Munich's M Performance Automobiles brand, offering a mid-range selection of sportier cars.
It doesn't end there either. Benz previously had a luxury/prestige brand over and above the basic Mercedes-Benz brand itself. That brand was Maybach, which failed to make much of an impact. The parent company effectively closed down Maybach, but is reviving the name as a luxury branch of the Mercedes-Benz brand, basing its Mercedes-Maybach model on the latest S-Class.
The Mercedes marketing structure is thus shaped like a 'Y', with the basic Benz range forming the trunk, Maybach forming the prestige/luxury branch to rival Bentley and Rolls-Royce, and Mercedes-AMG to go gunning for sports-oriented competitors in the form of BMW M Cars, Porsche and Maserati.
Where does AMG Sport fit in all this?
It's on the sports branch, between Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG. Rumour has it that the first AMG Sport model destined for Australia is the C 450, due here near the end of 2015.
While attending the local launch for the new C-Class Estate, C 300 BlueTEC Hybrid and SL 400, motoring.com.au learned more about the evolving structure while speaking with David McCarthy, the Senior Manager for Public Relations, Product and Corporate Communications at Mercedes-Benz Australia.
According to McCarthy, the AMG Sport brand strategy can work, even in a small market like Australia. One of the principal factors in the conception of AMG Sport was the success of the A 250 Sport, the Benz spokesman revealed.
"A 250 Sport was probably the start of it – and C 250 Sport Coupe – in terms of the suspension, brakes, transmission and the engine tuning.
"They were really the start of this AMG Sport [brand], because the suspension, the braking, the transmission mapping and all of that was done by AMG. A little bit of that [engine and transmission mapping] filtered into SLK 250 as well, but it's not [badged as] an SLK 250 Sport."
The A 250 Sport satisfied the need for a car that looked like an AMG, but priced at a more affordable level. There was still a demand unsatisfied however – a demand for a car that was not as brutally powerful as an AMG, but with a little more urge than the standard cars.
"What they've now decided to do is AMG Sport will be a separate brand," McCarthy continued. "You have four quite distinct brands. There will always be an AMG sports pack for a Mercedes-Benz, as there is currently – but that is separate to AMG Sport.
"Some of [the distinct models] might merge a bit."
Does that make the AMG Sport models detuned AMGs? Not according to the Benz spokesman. The sports pack-equipped models with the same engine deliver the same output as a standard car – A 250 Sport versus B 250, for instance – but the engine's character is different, thanks to revised engine mapping and transmission shift points.
In contrast with sport pack equipped cars like the A 250 Sport, however, the AMG Sport models will produce more output, albeit not to the same extent as a bespoke AMG model.
"Whilst I wouldn't classify the current [sport pack] cars as a dress-up kit – they actually go beyond that – AMG Sport will be the dress-up plus more output, plus a more focused suspension and dynamics. It goes that other step," McCarthy explained.
But given Mercedes-Benz can sell as many AMGs as the factory in Affalterbach can supply, is there any great gain to introducing AMG Sport in a subordinate role for a market as small as Australia?
"It's a mid point; that doesn't mean we will take every single model of AMG Sport. It won't dilute sales of Mercedes-AMG; it provides an alternative," McCarthy says.
Queried about his certainty AMG Sport models won't cannibalise Mercedes-AMG sales, McCarthy said he didn't know enough about the plan as yet to speak with complete authority. It might be the case that AMG Sport models won't be offered in V8 form, for example. In that event they certainly wouldn't conquest sales of Mercedes-AMG models.
But even if restricted to six-cylinder engines, there remains plenty of opportunity to extract more power – and plug that market deficit between certain Mercedes-Benz models and their Mercedes-AMG counterparts, McCarthy suggests.
"Let's look at say E-Class," he offered, hypothetically. "You've got E 63 – 430kW – you've got E 400 – 245kW. There's 200kW in there, so if you go from 245 to 275, it's not that much. Is there a case for something around... 320?
"Would that be a detuned four-litre V8, or something else?
"There is not a plan for a six-cylinder Mercedes-AMG, as far as I know. So the six-cylinder [AMG Sport] would fit that mid point."
It's a similar situation for C-Class, with the output of mainstream models hitting a ceiling at 155kW, and the upcoming C 63 somewhere in the stratosphere at 375kW – another 200kW+ gap in the range.
Far from hurting lucrative Mercedes-AMG sales, the AMG Sport models should find a market niche all their own, McCarthy believes. Mercedes-AMG sales are already oversubscribed.
"Do we have the ability to sell more Mercedes-AMG? Not really... there's already a waiting list on most of those cars.
"Everyone that wants one has ordered one or has one. [But] There are some people that would like something in between... and we, traditionally, have not been able to offer that."
"I think it's incremental. The overwhelming majority – probably eight out of every 10 – AMG Sport sales would be incremental. Someone who can afford a C 63 is buying that because they want a V8/rear-drive. A twin-turbo V6 all-wheel drive sedan is a very different car.
"There might be some cross-over... but we don't have a sales problem at all with AMG, we have a supply problem."
Therein lies a problem, perhaps. If Mercedes-AMG is enhancing engines for the AMG Sport models, the factory at Affalterbach could remain a choke point, just as it is for AMGs at present. McCarthy expects that this won't be the case, however.
"An enhanced version of a Mercedes engine, as opposed to a bespoke [AMG] engine... there is a difference..."
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Written byKen Gratton
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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