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AMG announces that it will deliver a two-tier range of compact high-performance cars starting from next year's all-new A-Class. This year the Mercedes-Benz high-performance brand celebrates its 50th birthday. It will deliver two different performance and price points from its go-fast junior models. The idea is similar to the two-tiered strategy it already uses on its larger cars, which use both the 3.0-liter V6 twin turbo power in the "43" models and 4.0-liter V8 twin turbo power in the "63" models.
AMG Chairman Tobias Moers says that the compact car family is going to be extended. He also claims that the Concept A sedan (shown at the Shanghai motor show this year) has typical AMG features, so we can expect that from AMG as well. He says they will complement our successful '45' models with new performance versions, with two versions, like they do with larger cars. The first AMG off the upgraded MFA front-drive architecture will the next year's A 45 AMG, followed by CLA and GLA versions spread across the next two years. But while he initially resisted demands to build the '43' V6, the first AMG powerplant not to be built by hand by one craftsman in Affalterbach, he insisted the push for 100,000 models a year hasn't taken the edge of AMG's independence.
Future four-cylinder performance engines will also be built in Affalterbach. They have to ensure AMG is independent within a big group. Tobias Moers claims they have a unique strategy and they decide how their products are defined. They are part of the worldwide Daimler R&D network. The company has new standalone AMG performance centers, with some coming to Dubai and Sydney, and now they have the first one in Tokyo.
