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Bruce Newton25 Feb 2015
NEWS

AMG Sport to drive expansion

Benz performance brand not exclusive or niche, declares AMG boss

A dramatic expansion of the Mercedes-AMG model range via its new ‘AMG Sport’ line will eventually encompass smaller four-cylinder Benzes as well as pushing upmarket into the likes of the E-Class, potentially including the next-generation’s inline six-cylinder engine.

And the managing director of Mercedes-Benz’s performance arm, Tobias Moers, insists AMG is not concerned about losing its exclusivity or niche status as sales drive north of 60,000 on the back of the new Sport line and further expansion of its traditional high-performance range.

The creation of AMG Sport was announced late last year with the aim of competing directly with BMW M Performance and Audi S Quattro, sitting between standard Benz models and AMG’s full-house high-kiloWattt and high-dollar model line-up.

After putting a toe in the water with the A 250 Sport and C 250 Coupe Sport, AMG’s first two official models to be revealed under the new strategy are the GLE 450 AMG 4MATIC Coupe and the C 450 AMG 4MATIC. The X6 rival hits our shores in August or September, while the C-Class will be here sometime in the first half of 2016.

"I don’t care about the niche brand, I don’t even care about the exclusive brand,” Moers told motoring.com.au at last week’s global launch drive of the new C 63 and C 450 in Portugal.

“AMG is the performance and sports car brand of Mercedes-Benz cars and if you bring cars to the market which are representing the AMG approach and attitude – driving performance – in that segment, then you don’t have a problem with the brand.

“The cars must fit into our brand approach, which is driving performance. If you step into the sport model segment with the C 450 – if it comes to a competitive test with our competitors, a comparison with the Audi S5 or whatever — then our car must be in front.”

Both 450s have a higher-output version of Benz’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 and a rear-biased all-wheel drive system; all of these bits as well as the chassis have been re-tuned by AMG.

It is a particularly significant drivetrain because full-blooded AMG models are based on four-cylinder, V8 and V12 engines, with no sixes in the line-up.

The cars are not built at AMG’s Affalterbach faciility, instead rolling off regular Benz assembly lines. Nevertheless, Moers confirmed that Sport sales will be attributed to AMG, helping it hit a target of 64,000 sales by 2017.

Considering AMG sold 47,000 cars and SUVs in 2014, that target seems a no-brainer.

“It’s always the same story — under-promise and over-deliver,” Moers said.

Never prone to detailed discussion of future plans, Moers grudgingly conceded how significant AMG Sport would be for the brand.

“It will be important part of our business of the future – volume-wise and business-wise.

“I think it will be an important role. I think there are good opportunities. Competitors for us sell a lot of their sport models … and I think there are good chances.

“And it is a new engine story into the brand of AMG.”

Asked whether AMG Sport would spread to the MFA architecture, on which Benz’s front-wheel drive models such as the A-, CLA- and GLA-Class are based, Moers replied: “In the future.”

Asked if the next-generation W213 E-Class due to break cover at Frankfurt in September – which will feature a shift back to inline six-cylinder power – would also feature in the AMG Sport plans, he said: “There are a lot of opportunities, even in the E-Class.”

The AMG Sport line-up represents the further broadening and democratisation of a brand once best known for building 1000Nm V12 lead-tipped arrows. The expansion of AMG has been driven by expansion into the MFA family with the 45 turbocharged four-cylinder all-wheel drive models.

The creation of bespoke sports cars such as SLS and new GT has also played a pivotal role in changing its image from hot tuner to performance car brand with a much higher profile and more compelling image than either BMW M or Audi’s quattro.

Moers emphasised that more high-performance cars would feature in the AMG expansion story into the future.

“We will increase our volume with the performance cars too. We brought the GT to the market — this is a new volume for our business for the future.

“We have room for performance cars, we will invest a little bit more in the performance cars for the future. We will bring more variance in the performance cars to the market, so everything plays a role.”

Among that lot will be an expansion of the GT line-up to include a convertible and GT racer, which will spawn a hard-core range-topper in the spirit of the superseded SLS AMG Black Series.

AMG's next-generation C 63 Coupe is due in 2016 and Moers is already talking that car up.

Watch out for motoring.com.au’s first drive of the C 450 AMG 4MATIC later today.

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