Cheaper A 35 hatch won’t dilute brand, says AMG

The arrival of the 2019 Mercedes-AMG A 35 4MATIC hot hatch will strengthen rather than dilute the AMG brand when it goes on sale in Australia early next year.

So said Mercedes-AMG president, Tobias Moers, speaking at the Paris motor show this week.

“I’ve been asked several times about diluting the brand with the A 35 but if an A 35 is a perfect ambassador in that segment, there’s nothing happening with the brand.

“I would like to have AMG as an approachable brand, which is attracting younger people for sporty cars. That’s a great story.”

The Mercedes-AMG A 35 is powered by a 225kW/400Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine matched with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and is claimed to accelerate to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

While official pricing for the new entry model to the Mercedes-AMG range is yet to be announced, it is expected to retail for around $65,000 plus on-road costs -- around $13,000 less than the current most affordable AMG, the A 45.

Moers says when took over the reins as Mercedes-AMG chief at the end of 2013, he set out to change perceptions of the Mercedes-Benz hot shop from being an expensive, high-end brand to one that stands purely for performance.

“At the end of 2013-14, we established a new strategy for AMG. The brand was not in the awareness where we would like it to be,” he said.

“AMG was well known before but often as the most expensive Mercedes, the most powerful Mercedes. I think we changed a lot regarding the brand awareness and potential.”

He said that growing sales volumes via a greater model range footprint would enhance the brand further.

“The expansion of the segment and achieving about 130,000 cars as a sales volume last year was very important for us because then we have a footprint. This is very important to get awareness for the brand.”

With products including the new GT 4-Door now in market, and the ONE hypercar sold out, Moers argues that because AMG offers more models in more segments, it competes not only with its traditional German rivals but pure performance brands like Porsche.

Indeed, these days Mercedes-AMG considers the fellow Stuttgart-based sports car maker its chief rival – and not just with the 911-rivalling GT.

“In line with bringing the two-door GT up to GT R and more to come, we are not at the end of the portfolio,” he said.

“We have the four-door GT, which is supportive for our brand awareness, now our competitive set is a little bit changed compared to the past. [With] C 63 you have an M3 or RS 4 as competitors.

“There’s a brand very close to Affalterbach where we are now competing in many segments [with].”

But along with extending AMG’s reach at the top end of the market, Moers says its expansion at the more affordable end with the A 35 is just as important.

“It’s a new entrance into the world of AMG and to our brand,” he said. “We didn’t have a car in that position before. I think it gives us a lot of access to customers we didn’t have in the brand. Value for money, that’s really competitive in the future.”

Moers also confirmed that more compact ‘35’ models were on the way (likely including the CLA 35 sedan, GLA 35 crossover and perhaps GLC 35 SUV), but drew the line at beefing up the new B-Class people mover. “Maybe not”, was the only response when we asked.

And don’t expect a Mercedes-AMG X-Class super-ute any time soon, because he reiterated that it’s simply not happening.

“The truth with the X-Class,” he said, “is if you have to judge where you put your efforts in, maybe the X-Class is not on the top of the list, not for a sports car performance brand.”