#AMG

It will be of little surprise to learn that Mercedes-AMG, like just about every other car company on this green earth, are fettling the prices of their wares. Still, even the one-percenters who fork out for sporty machines like the Merc GT coupe may be blinking in askance upon seeing that model’s new sticker price.

Every time I drive an AMG-massaged Mercedes-Benz crossover/SUV, I get a sense of déjà vu.

They're all quick, fun to drive, and bestowed with the latest in Mercedes-Benz dash tech. That last bit means lots of screen space, enough customization options to make your head spin, and haptic touch that mostly works.

Here is my short-take snapshot of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLB35 AMG 4Matic.

Wagon alert! Today we bring you a 2019 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG wagon that is California smog compliant, though the seller is currently located in Massachusetts.

Today's UCOTD is a 20-year-old sportster with relatively low miles. It's a 2003 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG Lorinser.

How do you take a small crossover and make it better?

Slap the AMG badge on it and give it the AMG treatment.

That process turned the 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE 53 AMG from just another crossover into something that’s reasonably fun to drive – though the price tag will make eyes water.

Continuing to play fast and loose with the definition of the word ‘coupe’, Mercedes-AMG has rolled out its CLE 53 4MATIC+ Coupe for the upcoming 2024 model year. At least this one has two doors and isn’t applied to a high-riding crossover. 

With Mercedes-Benz having updated volume models GLA family earlier this year, everyone knew it was a matter of time before changes were made for the high-performance AMG variants. But how much would change was the big question. With Mercedes having promised to electrify everything new AMG produced from 2025 onward, the model is poised to become an EV during its next re-imagining.

This is reflected in the refresh. The 2024 Mercedes-AMG GLA 45 S 4Matic+ doesn’t see a lot of mechanical changes and has instead adopted some new styling cues and updates to the interior.

Earlier in the month, reports were circulating that Mercedes-AMG would be re-instituting V8 power for its high-performance variants of the C and E-Class. While just a rumor, the surrounding circumstances made it seem credible. Enthusiasts were displeased that the brand had elected to run with smaller, emissions-friendly powertrains and the resulting sales (at least in Germany) don’t appear to be all that robust.

However, subsequent reports have suggested that the automaker won’t be bringing back the 4.0-liter M177 V8 after all. 

Word has it that Mercedes-AMG is mulling over how best to bring back V8 power to the C and E-Class. While the performance unit downsized its powertrains in a bid to be more emissions compliant, fans pointed out that AMG had long been synonymous with under-stressed and over-engineered V8s making enough power to burn through a set of tires in a single outing.

The shift ended up being a bit of a scandal and one that left a sour taste in the mouth of the people that would actually buy AMG-branded products — which may explain the claimed change of heart.

Those of you just itching to get behind the wheel of a new entry-level Mercedes will enjoy the news that Stuttgart has given its smallest vehicles a nip and tuck while also gifting them an electrified powertrain.

Affalterbach rather backed itself into a corner with the C 63 – at least in terms of its powerplant. For ages, the octopot racket was a key part of the package, meaning any replacement featuring less than eight cylinders would need to blow the doors off itself in order to avoid derisive looks from the cognoscenti. 

Leave it to AMG to tackle the thorny issue of four-bangers head-on by delivering one which, by itself, produces a scarcely believable 469 horsepower – then add an electric motor on the rear axle which pushes total output to nearly 700 horses.

If there’s one thing on which the moneyed set can be counted, it’s to do everything in the extreme. Witness the Mercedes-AMG G 63 4×42, an immensely powerful SUV with portal axles which will surely see duty on the mean streets of Beverly Hills.

Luxury coupes were falling out of favor among well-heeled American car shoppers around the turn of the century, with luxury trucks gaining sales ground by the minute, but that didn’t stop Mercedes-Benz from releasing a sporty new C-Class-based two-door with a big V8 and big price tag, starting in the 1999 model year: The CLK 430. As so often happens with costly European luxury machinery, this one took a hard depreciation hit during its time on the road, and now it resides in a Northern California self-service yard.

I’ve long struggled to understand the existence of four-door hatchbacks that are called “coupes” (to me, a coupe has two, not four, doors), have sloping rooflines, and are typically sold by import luxury brands.

I struggle a lot less when one is hopped up on the vehicular version of steroids.

While Mercedes-Benz has gradually been moving away from larger motors, it was still a shock to learn that the company would be removing the brunt of its V8-powered lineup in the United States for the 2022 model year. Higher-end vehicles typically come with broader profit margins and Americans tend to like V8s, so it was strange to see the brand tailoring its product at the last minute. Less surprising, however, was watching the entire automotive community speculate on the reasons why.

As your author is constantly suspect of regulations, it was my assumption that emissions compliance was the main culprit. But one would assume European rules would have put the kibosh on V8s in the home market long before cars were neutered in North America. Mercedes likewise suggested this was not the case, alluding to supply chain issues that have been hampering the industry since the start of 2020 while it promised to fix the problem as soon as possible. Then, Daimler executives started giving different answers and hit the reset button on the global supposition surrounding the discontinued engines.