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NEWS
Benz's first AMG Sport model due late 2015
Mercedes-Benz faces a busy year in Oz, with AMG, Maybach and AMG Sport models entering the frayThe market for luxury and prestige cars is set to continue expanding at a headlong rush next year – and Mercedes-Benz will be one of the prime movers.
For 2015 the prestige brand will deliver rivals in the local market a product-based hammer blow, which should build on the company's escalating sales rate for 2014.
Sources have revealed to motoring.com.au that one of the more interesting models coming here will be the C 450 4MATIC sedan. While six-cylinder C-Class sedans have not been especially popular variants over the years, this one might be a bit different. It's believed to be the first fruit of the AMG Sport sub brand. The engine powering the car will be the same turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 already offered in other models – including the new SL 400 – but it will be uprated by an extra 30kW, and the output will be farmed out to all four wheels through the same drive system underpinning the GLC SUV.
The AMG Sport brand will fill a gap in Benz's local and global line-ups, but it's business as usual in the upper echelon too. From early next year a plethora of AMG models will be introduced here. The S 63 AMG coupe is due in the early months, with the S 65 sedan – to special order only – coming in February or March. Already available to order and due for delivery early next year are the CLS 63 AMG – in 'coupe' (sedan) and Shooting Brake form.
Initially produced in 375kW 'S' guise, the C 63 AMG sedan and Estate (wagon) will arrive here late in the second quarter, and the AMG GT S is due here around the same time. The C 63 Coupe may reach Australia before the end of 2015, but it will be very late in the year if it does. It's more likely the coupe will be launched in Australia early in 2016.
Mercedes-Benz Australia is yet to make a decision concerning the lower-powered AMG GT for Australia, which is not to say we won't see it here – it's just that the prestige importer is debating the need for the standard car when the higher-performance GT S is likely to be the volume seller anyway.
Aside from the AMG models, Benz will also introduce new or revised models for the B-Class – a facelift due in the first quarter – and the CLA Shooting Brake, which is due late in the second quarter with the same engine line-up as in the CLA sedan. The differing roofline will increase headroom in the rear and ease accessibility, something for which the CLA sedan has been roundly criticised.
Additionally, two plug-in hybrid models, the S 500 and C 350, are due before the end of 2015. Yet to be determined precisely when, the GLE Coupe – Benz's X6 rival – will be scheduled for launch in Australia at some point during the year. Its Detroit debut in January is confirmed. Another SUV, the GLC (formerly the GLK, which was never previously sold in Australia), is set for launch here towards the end of 2015. And the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class will also lob during the year. Like the S 65 sedan, it's to special order only, and it's speculated the price will be somewhere north of $490,000, which is the asking price for the S 600.
With one month of 2014 remaining, the three-pointed star is seeing sales gathering pace for its range of passenger cars and SUVs, with only those models due for a refresh falling behind 2013's year to date sales figures.
One example of that is the SL sports car, which has sold just 71 units for 2014 – versus over double that number, 143, the year before. But Benz's iconic 'sports tourer' is now available in a new model year, with more power for the SL 63 AMG, and the new turbocharged SL 400 replacing the SL 350. Expect sales to pick up again in December.
Benz has also launched the C-Class Estate and C 300 BlueTEC Hybrid sedan this month, which will augment current W205 sedan sales.
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Written byKen Gratton
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