Benz A45 hot-hatch to double AMG sales

Sales of the ballistic C63 AMG are up a whopping 50 per cent so far this year, but Mercedes-Benz still expects to more than double AMG sales when the German performance brand’s first ever hot-hatch launches here in the second half of 2013.

Mercedes-Benz Australia Managing Director, Horst von Sanden, says around 1100 AMG vehicles will be sold in Oz by the end of 2012, but suggests that number will double to at least 2200 when the more affordable A45 AMG arrives.

“Probably in the near future our AMG volume will double if not more, because with the A45 we enter into a segment with a pricetag where people who could so far only dream about AMG can actually afford one,” he said.

Apart from its four-cylinder engine and AWD, other Mercedes-Benz firsts will be a dual-clutch automated manual transmission, while a large turbocharger pumps out around 2.8 bar of boost pressure.

We haven’t driven the car yet, but we have sat in the passenger seat while it hammered around the race track, and the A45 will be one of the most eagerly awaited releases of 2013.

The all-wheel drive hot- hatch will offer a 1.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine outputting around 260kW/450Nm and, with a potential 280km/h top speed, will challenge for the title of world’s fastest hot-hatch.

The AMG-fettled A-Class won’t be slow to 100km/h either, with a standing-start sprint time of around 4.7 seconds set to ensure AMG’s smallest model will keep pace with German performance cars that cost more than twice as much.

Though no price has been divulged at this stage, it’s likely to match the $68,400 pricetag of BMW’s talented M135i.

To tide performance car fans over, Mercedes-Benz has launched a number of other model variants this December, including the C250 Sport Coupe, a 150kW/310Nm 1,8-litre turbo-petrol four-seater that benefits from a number of sporty upgrades.

They include an AMG-tuned suspension set-up which sharpens up the handling considerably. The entire C-class range now also gets a Becker Map Pilot satellite-navigation system as standard.

The new B250 is another Mercedes model that is just arriving in dealerships. Topping off the B-Class range, it is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine developing 155kW/350Nm, making it capable of accelerating to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds.

Priced at $49,500, it doesn’t attract luxury car tax (LCT) and is packaged with 18-inch alloy wheels, tinted glass, blackened mirrors, Xenon headlights and LED running lights. It also rides on lowered suspension and has a sporty steering ratio and twin exhaust system.

Mercedes has upgraded all versions of the B-Class, which was launched here last April, by fitting a reversing camera as standard equipment and larger 17-inch alloy wheels on entry-level models.

Lastly, the new SLK250 model has hit showrooms too, powered by an uprated version of the SLK200’s 1.8-litre turbo-petrol engine outputting 150kW/310Nm and enabling a 6.6-second 0-100km/h dash.

Priced at $92,450, Mercedes says this newly added drop-top will become most popular model in the SLK line-up, and comes as standard with intelligent Xenon headlights and the COMAND APS infotainment system with sat-nav and internet connectivity.