Mercedes-AMG to distance itself from core model range
Fast sub-brand must go “significantly beyond” if it wants to create credible performance cars in the EV age
Mercedes will move the needle when it comes to future performance-car engineering, with chairman of the board of management and Mercedes CEO, Ola Källenius, looking to separate the company’s revered AMG products from its more mainstream models.
Talking about wanting to explore new niches and previously untapped model lines, Källenius said: “With AMG: this is where much of the story stops.
“With AMG, if you want a credible performance car in the electric car era, on powertrain you have to go significantly beyond,” he said. “It has to be dedicated if you want it to be a real performance car.”
This tallies neatly with what we know about the recently revealed AMG GT XX concept, which previews a sleek four-door supercar due in 2026 using axial flux electric motors developed by British company YASA. The AMG GT XX is unlike any existing Mercedes model, and the production car is expected to be offered only as an AMG when it’s revealed next year.
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It’s a project that Mercedes-AMG CEO, Michael Schiebe, clearly relishes: “The big difference with AMG is that it’s still a bit of rock ‘n’ roll engineering. You have an idea – it might be crazy – but convince management and you’ll get the funding. The hierarchy is very flat.
“The challenge is to make our EVs like a marathon sprinter,” he told us. “Only being good in a sprint doesn’t suit the performance segment very well because if you lose steam after accelerating once or twice, you can’t call it a high-performance car. So here we’re talking about continuous performance.”
Another way Mercedes will hope to separate its AMG variants from other models in the range is by continuing its ‘One Man, One Engine’ philosophy – even into the electric age.
“The personal relationship between the buyer and builder in the car is a signature element of AMG, so we’ll definitely continue with that into the electric era,” Schiebe said. “There will definitely be something to do with craftsmanship and the attention someone pays to a specific car that won’t just be a marketing activity.”
Yet AMG doesn’t see EVs as the only solution, with director of vehicle development, Stefan Jastrow, confirming the firm’s charismatic V8s have life left in them yet: “Do we need a V8 in the future?” he asked us. “The answer is clearly yes, but for how long? We don’t know. We needed it to work for current regulations, and perhaps future ones we don’t know of yet.”
As mentioned, the first fruits of AMG’s labour will come to the fore next year, with the production version of the AMG GT XX setting the benchmark for Merc’s future performance EVs. What else comes of this newfound performance-car philosophy remains to be seen.
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