8
NEWS
A 45 AMG lands in Oz from $74,900
The most powerful 2.0-litre on the planet arrives in Benz showrooms from September 1Mercedes-Benz has thrown the keys to its A 45 AMG to motoring press this week ahead of the model's official Australian on-sale date of September 1.
With more the 1000 pre-orders, however, you'd want to get your order in quick. Delivery times are now stretching out to eight months, though Mercedes-Benz Australia says it's secured further allocations from Affalterbach to ensure a shorter queue from next year.
The A 45 AMG features Mercedes-Benz's M133-series 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The unit currently holds the illustrious title of the world's most powerful series production engine of its size. With an output of 265kW/450Nm the force-fed four is capable of propelling the A 45 AMG to 100km/h in just 4.6sec.
With a price tag of $74,900 the A 45 AMG doesn't come cheap. However, it has proved that it is priced well enough to ensure "very strong" pre-orders, says Mercedes' general manager of sales, Richard Emery.
"We believe that this new A 45, just like the rest of our A-Class range, will draw a mix of new customers to the Mercedes-Benz brand, but will also appeal to the changing aspirations of our existing Mercedes-Benz owners," said Emery.
"We've got strong order banks across most of our compact car range, so not just A-Class... and when we add that to the fact that our B-Class is having its strongest year ever, we expect to have a very strong finish to the end of 2013."
The A 45 AMG will be joined by the CLA-Class in September, its similarly-sporty sibling, the CLA 45 AMG sedan from October, and the higher-riding GLA-series from January (2014).
Merc's cracking new A 45 AMG is generously equipped, featuring as standard a number of items that are extra-cost options in many European markets. These include the AMG Night Package – which adds black-coloured external highlights where the standard models' are matte grey – electronically-controlled AMG Performance Exhaust, and elevated electronically-limited top speed of 270km/h (it's 250km/h otherwise).
Excusing the obvious performance endowments, the sportier 'A' is otherwise trimmed similarly to its derivative A 250 Sport. There are few options to choose from either with the 'tick list' including only three additions to the factory build. These include black-painted versions of the same multi-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels ($490), front 'flic' and rear spoiler-adding Aero Package ($1990) and 20 per cent stiffer AMG Performance Suspension package ($1990).
Mercedes-Benz Australia's product manager for the A 45 AMG, Robert Leigh, says the premium hot hatch and CLA 45 AMG sibling are set to "revolutionise" the market in which they compete, and combined, will eventually sell similar numbers to the current AMG range-leader, the C 63 AMG.
"The A-Class is proving to be the success we hoped it would be," said Leigh.
"We are now averaging 300 sales per month, and last month, A-Class out-sold its segment and almost doubled the volume of its nearest rival. As supply lines improve, and combined with the healthy order bank that we have, we're set to end the year on a high.
"The A 45 we're sure will not only revolutionalise the hot hatch market, but the entire performance car market as well," he surmised.
Visit motoring.com.au soon for our full launch review of the A 45 AMG. Or, click on this link to read our First Drive.
Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...
Don't forget to register to comment on this article.
Share this article
Written byMatt Brogan
See all articlesOur team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Subscribe todaySell your car with Instant Offer™
Like trade-in but price is regularly higher
1. Get a free Instant Offer™ online in minutes2. An official local dealer will inspect your car3. Finalise the details and get paid the next business day
Get a free Instant Offer
Related articles
Disclaimer
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.
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.
Love every move.
Buy it. Sell it.Love it.
®Contact
Advertise with us
Local marketplaces
International marketplaces
Scan to download the carsales app
Want more info? Here’s our app landing page
App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo
are trademarks of Google LLC.