AMG rules out hypercar and SLS successor – for now

Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers has ruled out both a hypercar to rival the LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and McLaren P1 – and a replacement for its discontinued SLS supercar – within the next eight years.

However, the boss of Daimler's performance brand says that both a range-topping AMG hypercar and a new supercar to slot between it and the new GT line-up remain possibilities for next decade.

Speaking at an Australian-first preview drive of the AMG GT S Edition 1 last month, ahead of first customer deliveries of the all-new GT in July, Moers said reports that AMG is studying a limited-edition hypercar flagship are wide of the mark.

"No. A hypercar is nothing what we have. There is no discussion. There's nothing under study -- nothing," he told motoring.com.au.

"Maybe in the future, yes, but not in the next five, six, eight years. Not this decade. I think it's not necessary."

Moers said producing a million-dollar AMG hypercar was technically feasible, but depended not only establishing a profitable business case but developing the AMG brand to a point where it was credible enough to compete with the likes of Ferrari.

"Maybe when we do one it would be competitive, but brand-wise we are not at that level in the market. Not yet. Let's work on our brand and maybe in the future...

"We as a company know about our competencies and we have a lot of competencies. We already provide the engine for a hyper car – Pagani.

"Maybe from a technical point of view we would be able to do a hypercar, but it's always regarding a business case and regarding the brand level where we are in the market."

Moers said AMG had plenty of "homework" to do in introducing an entire "family" of GT models before it could turn its attention to a hypercar.

"We have to move forward with our brand. Everyone should understand what AMG stands for and this is what we're working on. If AMG would have unlimited capacity and unlimited budget and nobody cares about the business case, then it would be a nice playground, for sure. But we have to do our homework first. We have to stay grounded.

"We have now formed a new sports car brand which you'll feel in the new approach to the look and feel of everything AMG does. What happened last year is that AMG became a clear sports car brand -- the same level as the Mercedes-AMG luxury brand. Our segment is performance sports cars, it is a clear focus as part of Mercedes-Benz."

Moers said previously that he wants AMG to compete directly with Porsche's other performance car brand (Porsche) and the GT will be AMG's first direct rival for its top-selling 911.

But he says that, for now, AMG doesn't necessarily need an answer to the limited-edition, left-hand drive 918 Spyder, all 918 customer versions of which have now been officially sold despite a projected Australian price of more than $1.5 million.

"Now we are in the competitive segment with that car [the GT] and we compete obviously with the other one in Germany, and we'll see what happens in that segment," he said, adding that transaction prices for many hypercars like the 918 remain a mystery.

"The hypercar business is not always profitable. They tell us they are all sold and nobody knows [the transaction prices].

"The funny thing about the hypercar business is all three players in it were in it 15 years ago and came back at the same time and I think there is no room for another one so far."

Asked if AMG can compete for Ferrari with the GT range, Moers said: "It depends. Not LaFerrari." 458? "Yes," he said.

Moers said AMG is also too busy to produce a replacement for the SLS, the $639,000 Black Series version of which was more than double the price of the upcoming GT S ($295,000).

But he indicated an SLS replacement would eventually be forthcoming – with Gullwing doors – once the GT family is complete.

"Honestly, there's no [MkII SLS] program running. Our homework for the next years is so much, so we took the decision to not replace directly the SLS because SLS has to stand by its own and the Gullwing is an iconic car.

"SLS was not a hypercar, it was more or less in its own competitive set, a car on its own. Finally we didn't start a program, we didn't finish our discussions. So let's wait and see what happens.

"AMG is still a small company and we're doing our homework with the GT family and the AMG Sport models which need some work as well."

Asked if any eventual SLS Coupe successor would feature the discontinued model's trademark roof-hinged doors, Moers said: "That's my personal view.

"If it takes 50 to 60 years to have a Gullwing replacement coming out of the 1950s then we can wait a few more years.

"[There will not be] even an SLS replacement in the next eight years."

Mercedes-AMG hypercar rendering and SLS AMG Black Edition pictured