AMG hot house to come Down Under?

Mercedes Benz is planning to steal a march on its competitors with the establishment of an Australian branch of its in-house tuning and customisation business, AMG Performance Studio. Already established in key markets including Germany and the United States, Australia could be the first right-hand drive market to establish one of the centres.

Performance Studio was established alongside the go-fast division's Black Series models to cater for a growing demand for even wilder Mercedes models. Indeed, the AMG factory's own Performance Studio at Affalterbach is responsible for the development and building of the Black Series models.

Other projects taken on by the Affalterbach operation include full coachbuilt projects as well as wild conversions. Examples include a stretched V12-engined G-wagen and a R107 series SL that was re-engineered to accommodate current AMG V8 running gear.

Typically the standalone Performance Studios carry out less elaborate modifications. These include engine and brake modifications as well as interior upgrades or bespoke finishes.

According to Mercedes-Benz Australia, the continued growth of the AMG brand Down Under has raised hopes of establishing a Performance Studio operation in Australia.

"The strength of AMG sales as a percentage of total Mercedes sales in Australia and the success of the recent CLK and latest SL65 Black Series models has prompted the discussion," Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman, David McCarthy told the Carsales Network.

"We are tracking an increasing interest in customisation in AMG prospects and a growing number of current and past owners are choosing to tweak their cars. These changes can be special interiors with bespoke wood or special wheel and tyre packages," McCarthy said.

"The relationship between the customer and the AMG brand is very close. The AMG owner's club has been a great success. Although the size of our market would not generally be considered big enough to support a Performance Studio, being close or in the top five in terms of penetration, makes our case stronger."

McCarthy said the assistance and support that AMG's head office had provided for the local operations Bathurst event (more here) and this March's Australian Grand Prix on-track activities "absolutely demonstrates the performance marque's commitment to our market and the strong relationship we enjoy".

One measure of growing success of AMG is the C 63. In terms of sedan sales, C63 has posted a ten-fold increase over the C55 W203 it replaced. The model has also created a new sub segment with the strong sales of the estate version -- none of which were sold in the previous iteration.

McCarthy says a decision is still some months away. He says the company is hopeful that the go ahead for a local Performance Studio could be given before the end of 2009.

"There are still plenty of questions -- where and whether it would be a company-owned or franchise store.

"Performance Studio needs quite a significant investment in terms of workshop space and specialist facilities. It's not a plug and play option. The investment in staff training alone equates to thousand of man hours and at least a high six-figure investment," he said.