TheTherapist

Not sure I like the sound of this - mid range AMG's that sit right in the middle of the regular range of Mercedes vehicles! And with the new price point will be the resulting hobbled performance. Apparently body kits will also be dispensed with as the lowered budget only allows for AMG wheels and trim.

This cannot be of benefit to the premium brand that has been built carefully over many years whose vehicles are recognised as best of breed. Seems like a grab for cash driven by corporate bureaucracy to the ultimate detriment of AMG's standing in the market - am I reading this wrong?

http://www.benzinsider.com/2014/08/m...el-amg-models/

mobhouse

looks like they're attacking audi more with them having an s line as well as an rs line. Seeing how many audi's are driving around I do believe its a good choice.

moosejaw

mercedes has been diluting the brand for years
why do you think they fall in value the first three years
bc theres too many of them out there

I remember as a kid Mercedes has six models
190E, 300E, SEL, SEC, and SL

the G Wagen didnt even arrive here until 1999.

Nowadays you have the
cla, gla, c, e, cls, s, sl, ml, gl, glk, , slk, b, gt.
And an AMG model for each and every one of the them

Why would mercedes care about value when they sell them like they were hondas and toyotas. Where else can you get a C class for $299/month

E55Greasemonkey

Mercedes has been in a race to the bottom for several years. They have become greedy. Not only have they de-valued the brand, but I guess they want to devalue the AMG exclusiveness as well. They already started offering what is basically the CLA45 body/wheel package on the CLA 250..The CLA is a piece of crap to start with, but what little excitement the CLA45 offers has now also been devalued. The new C class has an interior design and pieces stolen from their flagship S class, so now the s class with it's phenominal interior is devalued. The race to the bottom continues...

StarvingArtist

Maybe they will buy out Brabus and start over.

kb24forlife24

Wow this isn't good news for AMG owners. I don't like it.

G_Money

It's like making poser cars from the factory! They better not put a trunk badge on anything that doesn't have a hand built motor!

justinwrock

They've been doing it for years in Europe, and is nothing new here in the US.

For the last decade, you could get any MB with the AMG sport package - C-Class, E-Class, S-Class, etc. This was an option on the W211 E-Class from launch! Porsche does the same thing with their aero-kits, BMW does the same thing with the M-teknik packages, and Audi does the same thing with the S-line.

With that said, when AMG was founded, technically you didn't have to have an AMG powertrain to have a full AMG car. Back in the 80s when AMG was on it's own, tuning Mercedes like Brabus was, you could purchase parts a-la-carte, and have them installed on your lowely Mercedes, and as long as you had 3 parts (like an AMG suspension + AMG aero kit + AMG wheels) your car was an AMG, and you were allowed to wear an AMG badge.

So I ask, what's new? Honestly, the merger of AMG and MB in the mid 90's did the most to devalue AMG and MB! AMG went from a niche tuner, producing limited production cars, to mass production! Seriously, before the merger, AMG would take cars that MB completed production of, would strip them down, then work their magic, making for VERY limited production cars! Now however...

Toadster

I had a bluetec E350 AMG pull up next to me last night and rev (lol) next to me...

my wife and I were laughing pretty good at the poor sod...

kb24forlife24

If they do implement this strategy I hope it's sort of like BMW's M-Sport package, and I hope they don't slap an AMG badge on the trunk. I don't have an AMG, and I would never put an AMG badge unless I have a genuine AMG.

justinwrock

A-la-carte AMG

TheTherapist

No these are not "AMG Packages" or anything of the sort. If you read the article you will see these are going to be entirely new AMG models but more affordable than the higher end AMG's. In other words AMG will no longer be synonymis with the best instead having 2 models available in each class. For instance the first model planned will be a V6 in the C Class range. From the article: "The C450 AMG should fit right in, with the Mercedes-Benz C400 model below it in the hierarchy, and with the C 63 AMG as the high-end model. According to reports, the C450 AMG will sport a twin-turbo V6 engine."

This highlights another aspect of the brand erosion I was referring to. I know AMG haven't entirely always built big blocks yet they have traditionally been known for them. It is a natural association that has been part of AMG's brand building process: When one thinks of AMG one thinks big block power. Again that facet of their hard earned branding will be out the window as smaller less powerful motors become part of the AMG stable.

This marketing decision (read cash grab) by Mercedes will be the most radical since purchasing AMG in the late eighties and ultimately to the detriment of the elite AMG moniker.

HeissRod

This is what I'm seeing as well. Doesn't seem to be a bad thing for Audi, but MB most likely won't do it right.

TheTherapist

The new models will be properly badged as a full AMG vehicle except they will be lower spec than the high end models. "AMG" will feature in the model name for instance the first model planned is the "C450 AMG".

mobhouse

I've doubted mercedes before... then they came out with the slr and shut me up. Won't bet against them in this situation.

badm

WOW ,, 2 tier AMG's . Oh 3 tier AMG's you got fake AMG riding around all day.. AMG appearance package cars .. I deal with this all day ,they pull next to you and and try to get froggy with u , tell u rev that real AMG motor , than they wave and smile especially these CLA's . This is another bean counter money grab from Mercedes and of course selling more cars .. Audi is messing with mercedes on sales and market share so mercedes has to come up with something new .So the 2nd tier AMG must be cheaper than the "REAL AMGs" I would assume. So the 1st tier AMG's will be worth more or less than 2 tier cars time will tell. Its definitely bringing the exclusivity down for AMG's.

mobhouse

After thinking about this some more, it reminds me of Subaru, sadly. Comparing the wrx to the mid level, and the sti to the upper level. I still hope mercedes keeps the production count down to have some exclusivity.

Enigma94

Granted the more production numbers of actual AMG vehicles will cut down on the exclusivity of them you should still have that exclusive feel when driving the "upper tier" AMG. I think having a 2 tier system would be fine for the lower end classes, aka C classes. As long as they leave the big boy classes alone I'd be fine with it.

As far as big block power and lower AMG prices you have to remember the c32 in the fact that it wasn't a $100k car, didn't have a v8, but was still an AMG. This is obviously something they are trying to go back towards with the CLA45 and I'm totally fine with that as long as they only use this tier system on select class models. I don't want to see a S45 AMG with a TT V6, and I hope they are smart enough to realize that all of their fan base would feel the same way.

HeissRod

I assume the mid-model would be like an S550 AMG. Then how would you distinguish an S550 w/AMG appearance package from an S550 AMG with the up-rated motor?

AKnight55

I think you can already compare the audi s and rs line to mercedes amg and black series.

HeissRod

Not really. The Black Series cars tend to be pumped up variants of the existing AMG offerings using the same motors. The Black Series are also only offered on 2-door cars. Think of the BS cars as tuner versions of AMG cars.

Audi's S & RS lines, on the other hand, usually use completely different motors and are available across a large portion of their lineup.

In the past, I saw the comparison go something like this....

C300 vs. A4 vs. 328i
C350 vs. S4 vs. 335i
C63 vs. RS4 vs. M3

E350 vs. A6 vs. 528/535i
E550 vs. S6 vs. 550i
E63 vs. RS6 vs. M5

C300 Coupe vs. A5 vs. 328i Coupe
C350 Coupe vs. S5 vs. 335i Coupe
C63 Coupe vs. RS5 vs. M3 Coupe
C63 Coupe BS vs. nothing vs. nothing (Maybe M3 CSL in older years?)

G_Money

Don't Black Series cars make extensive use of carbon fiber pieces to reduce weight? Can't think of any similar offerings from the factory from BMW or Audi, besides the old CSL M3s.

dchl21

I don't like this idea one bit. I hope it doesn't come true

mobhouse

Wherever I read now it says amg sport. I'm guessing its gonna be a m sport competitor
http://www.carscoops.com/2014/05/mee...amg-sport.html

G_Money

Well there's no AMG trunk badge, at least.