Mercedes-Benz Sticks That AMG Badge On E'rything, AMG Division Surges In America

Timothy Cain
by Timothy Cain
mercedes benz sticks that amg badge on e rything amg division surges in america

Mercedes-Benz USA’s AMG division now markets 34 different models. Added to the list of the outlandish vehicles, the likes of which made AMG famous in the first place, are a bevy of new, entry AMG models; AMG 43s that were initially badged as “AMG Sports” but now receive the badge treatment due the genuine article.

With the surge in the number of available AMG variants, there has been a surge in sales of Mercedes-AMG vehicles. U.S. volume rose 33 percent, year-over-year, in calendar year 2016 according to Automotive News Europe, and Mercedes-AMG product sales have risen 32 percent so far this year.

That rapid expansion won’t be sustained. Mercedes-Benz USA’s sales vice president, Adam Chamberlain, says growth “will dumb down a little bit through the year.”

But by how much? By the end of 2017, Mercedes-Benz will have expanded its U.S. AMG division from 34 different models to at least 42.

The list of AMG models in Mercedes-Benz’s portfolio now includes six two-door models:

  • AMG C43 Coupe
  • AMG C63 Coupe
  • AMG C63 S Coupe
  • AMG S63 Coupe
  • AMG S65 Coupe
  • AMG GT

And that’s before you get to the convertible lineup:

  • AMG S65
  • AMG S63
  • AMG C63
  • AMG C63 S
  • AMG C43
  • AMG SL65
  • AMG SL63
  • AMG SLC43

There are nine AMG sedans:

  • AMG CLA45
  • AMG CLS63 S
  • AMG C43
  • AMG C63
  • AMG C63 S
  • AMG E43
  • AMG E63 S
  • AMG S63
  • AMG S65

There are also 11 SUVs and crossovers:

  • AMG GLA45
  • AMG GLC43
  • AMG GLC43 Coupe
  • AMG GLE43
  • AMG GLE63
  • AMG GLE63 S
  • AMG GLE43 Coupe
  • AMG GLE63 S Coupe
  • AMG GLS63
  • AMG G63
  • AMG G65

Adding models has only been part of the process. Though Mercedes-Benz has fallen short of its goal of placing 100 AMG performance centers across America by the end of last year (there are only 26), providing showroom space for AMG has been vital in its quest to set AMG apart. Mercedes-Benz doesn’t just want AMG cars and SUVs to be viewed as variants of the core model, but rather it wants them to be viewed as a division unto itself. Hence the Mercedes-AMG nomenclature.

U.S. AMG sales more than doubled in just the last two years and nearly tripled over the course of the last three years. After accounting for only 3 percent of Mercedes-Benz (non-van) sales in 2014, AMG models produced 5 percent of Mercedes-Benz sales in 2015 and 7 percent in 2016.

Through the first two months of 2017, 10 percent of the vehicles sold by Mercedes-Benz in the United States have been AMG models.

Timothy Cain is the founder of GoodCarBadCar.net, which obsesses over the free and frequent publication of U.S. and Canadian auto sales figures. Follow on Twitter @goodcarbadcar and on Facebook.

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  • Spartan Spartan on Mar 29, 2017

    AMG all the things. All they did was take an exclusive brand and make it more accessible to people who at a time, couldn't afford it. From a business standpoint, it makes perfect sense. The same people complaining about brand dilution are the same people that yelled from the rooftops when Porsche built the Cayenne. Enthusiasts who don't put their money where their mouth is when it's time to buy new and all they want to do is complain. These high margin AMG Benzes are paying for the development of all their high end cars. Get used to it. Otherwise, you won't have any AMG GT's to gawk over in magazines.

  • 05lgt 05lgt on Mar 29, 2017

    As long as the 63's make that wonderful angry war god bellow at full throttle, it's all good by me.

  • ToolGuy CXXVIII comments?!?
  • ToolGuy I did truck things with my truck this past week, twenty-odd miles from home (farther than usual). Recall that the interior bed space of my (modified) truck is 98" x 74". On the ride home yesterday the bed carried a 20 foot extension ladder (10 feet long, flagged 14 inches past the rear bumper), two other ladders, a smallish air compressor, a largish shop vac, three large bins, some materials, some scrap, and a slew of tool cases/bags. It was pretty full, is what I'm saying.The range of the Cybertruck would have been just fine. Nothing I carried had any substantial weight to it, in truck terms. The frunk would have been extremely useful (lock the tool cases there, out of the way of the Bed Stuff, away from prying eyes and grasping fingers -- you say I can charge my cordless tools there? bonus). Stainless steel plus no paint is a plus.Apparently the Cybertruck bed will be 78" long (but over 96" with the tailgate folded down) and 60-65" wide. And then Tesla promises "100 cubic feet of exterior, lockable storage — including the under-bed, frunk and sail pillars." Underbed storage requires the bed to be clear of other stuff, but bottom line everything would have fit, especially when we consider the second row of seats (tools and some materials out of the weather).Some days I was hauling mostly air on one leg of the trip. There were several store runs involved, some for 8-foot stock. One day I bummed a ride in a Roush Mustang. Three separate times other drivers tried to run into my truck (stainless steel panels, yes please). The fuel savings would be large enough for me to notice and to care.TL;DR: This truck would work for me, as a truck. Sample size = 1.
  • Art Vandelay Dodge should bring this back. They could sell it as the classic classic classic model
  • Surferjoe Still have a 2013 RDX, naturally aspirated V6, just can't get behind a 4 banger turbo.Also gloriously absent, ESS, lane departure warnings, etc.
  • ToolGuy Is it a genuine Top Hand? Oh, I forgot, I don't care. 🙂
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