Paris show: Australia to get hottest Benz AMG C63

MERCEDES-BENZ Australia/Pacific (MBAP) will go straight for the jugular with its new-generation Mercedes-AMG C63 next year, importing the top-shelf 375kW ‘S’ version of its new high-performance mid-sized sedan and wagon range right from the get-go.

While the less powerful ‘standard’ Mercedes-AMG C63 – with 350kW of power from the new 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 engine – might still come to Australia as part of the new-generation C-Class range, the C63 S is a certainty, according to MBAP senior manager of public relations, product and corporate communications David McCarthy.

“We have not made a decision on the standard C63, but we will take the C63 S,” he said, confirming that first deliveries of the AMG-enhanced C-Class variants were due in Australia in mid-2015.

Mr McCarthy also promised sharp pricing on the new AMG range, for which customers had already expressed “a huge amount of interest” ahead of launch.

Australia is one of the top markets in the world for AMG cars, accounting for about 6.0 per cent of global production.

So far this year, the company’s dealers have delivered 2000 AMG-badged vehicles for the first time, surpassing the record 1600-odd AMG units sold in all of 2013.

Despite being in run-out with the previous generation of its top-selling C63 sedan and ‘estate’ this year, the company expects to tick over 2500 AMG sales, representing about 10 per cent of Mercedes volume in Australia.

The new high-performance V8 C-Class variants will be revealed next week at the Paris motor show, complete with new nomenclature – Mercedes-AMG C63, in place of Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG – bringing them into line with the just-revealed Mercedes-AMG GT sports coupe that will share the limelight at the French expo.

Like the GT, the AMG C-Class gets the new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine in two performance levels – 350kW/650Nm for the C63, and 375kW/700Nm for the premium C63 S. This replaces the normally aspirated 6.3-litre V8 that currently comes in two states of tune – 336/600kW in C63 and 373kW/610Nm in C63 Edition 507.

The new C63 S can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 4.0 seconds, eclipsing the sprint time of rival BMW’s new M3 (4.1sec).

The C63 duo also gets the latest version of AMG’s seven-speed Speedshift multi-clutch automatic transmission and AMG three-mode suspension dampers, sports body kit and special AMG interior treatment, among other goodies.

The current C63 sedan sells for $154,900 plus on-road costs, while the hotter C63 Edition 507 goes for $169,407.

The bread-and-butter four-cylinder C-Class variants were launched in Australia last month with a $1000 price hike over equivalent superseded models, but with a claimed $10,000 in extra value in standard features.

This might be an indicator for C63 pricing once it is announced closer to launch in the middle of 2015.