Mercedes announces AMG Sport range

MERCEDES-BENZ has teased its new line-up of performance-orientated Mercedes-AMG Sport models, set to make their debut at the 2015 Detroit motor show in January ahead of Australian arrival later in the year.

Details are yet to be confirmed, but the luxury German car-maker has a teased an enhanced GLE – the recently renamed ML-Class large-size SUV – and a sporty looking C-Class, potentially previewing the rumoured C450.

The new AMG Sport range will receive a lift in engine performance and a tweak in the suspension and brake packages, along with all-wheel drive in some markets and more aggressive styling cues.

The warmed up vehicles will slot into the Mercedes line-up above the regular Mercedes-Benz models and below the hardcore AMG range, taking aim at German rivals BMW M Performance and and Audi's S line variants.

Speaking to GoAuto, Mercedes-Benz Australia senior corporate communications manager David McCarthy confirmed the new line-up will be seen on Australian roads, “likely to be late next year.”

Mr McCarthy also confirmed that the first model to arrive will be the C450 and will come equipped with Mercedes' all-wheel-drive 4Matic system and an output “higher than the current twin-turbo V6,” which will be 245kW/480Nm in the forthcoming C 400.

40,000 AMG vehicles have already been sold globally this year, but Mercedes-AMG chairman of the board of management Tobias Moers said the company's aggressive sales strategy, including the introduction of the new line will double the 2013 sales total of AMG badged vehicles worldwide by 2017.

“The new Sport models represent a convincing proposition for our customers: genuine sports car technology becomes accessible, appealing to an even broader-ranging clientele worldwide,” Mr Moers said.

Per capita, Australia is Mercedes' largest AMG market with 2000 of the hot vehicles snapped up by power-hungry Aussies to the end of September this year.