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.