DILUTION ALERT: Benz Rebadges AMG Sport Line as Mercedes-AMG

Big news, folks: Mercedes-Benz will abandon and rebadge their AMG Sport line vehicles as Mercedes-AMGs, and assign more development to AMG. Essentially, the AMG Sport line is no more, and all cars formerly designated as such are moving into the AMG lineup.

Car & Driver made the discovery at the Detroit Auto Show upon the release of the SLC43, which is coming out in 2017. Their reporter put two and two together by noticing that the AMG variant of the SLK-Class successor, the SLC43, will receive the same biturbo 3.0L V6 engine from the C450 AMG Sport and GLE450 AMG Sport. Both these vehicles will be rebadged in the same fashion as the Mercedes-AMG SLC43. Now we’ll see a C43 and a GLE43 in the upcoming year, as well as a Mercedes-AMG E43 that will sit beneath the almighty E63.

The current AMG Sport line models, as you might know, aren’t thoroughbred AMG models; in fact, many of you on the forum refer to them as “posers”. When Mercedes-Benz introduced the AMG Sport line, it caused such a major discussion, we’ve featured your opinions here on the front page, and that ended up getting Jalopnik’s attention. Why? Because it’s a tragedy that AMG is getting diluted like vinegar in your washing machine, and nobody who owns an AMG is happy about this. On these lower-level AMGs, you won’t see a hand-built engine by a single master mechanic. The factory motors are still brutish, with minor chassis, suspension, and engine tuning from AMG, but that’s not enough. These cars don’t deserve a full-bore AMG credential.

In the future, the lesser AMGs will be holistically tuned by AMG, but not to such an extravagant extent as a pure AMG-built Mercedes. It is a nice middle ground between pedestrian base model Mercedes-Benz cars and full-factory-custom AMG supercars, but AMG badges shouldn’t be on middle-ground transportation. AMG should represent the best of “the best or nothing”. Having more options for customers is great, but don’t dilute a storied brand in the process. AMG was the outfit that created the Hammer. AMG still means something to the hearts and minds of enthusiasts. If AMG can take the development of these models to new heights, and make them known as “best of both worlds” alternatives to their “raw performance” top-spec cars, then they might be onto something. That could be a smart direction, but just taking the stepping stone approach is stopping short of the goal post.

Do you think Mercedes can get this right, or is AMG headed for a meeting with the spin cycle?

Chime in with your thoughts on the forum. >>

Via [C&D]