Kiwis fly in Mercedes-AMG sales

FORGET the Bledisloe Cup – New Zealand has pipped Australia is a new arena: Mercedes-AMG sales.

While the customer take-up of Mercedes-Benz’s hottest models as a percentage of sales in Australia has long been among the best on the world, New Zealand has emerged as the leader this year, with no fewer than 24 per cent of Mercedes vehicles in that country bearing the AMG badge.

This compares to about 21 per cent in Australia in the first quarter of this year. And that is a record for this market which traditionally runs in the 13-15 per cent range – well above the single-digit global figure.

Of course, the sheer number of AMG vehicles sold in Australia – more than 1900 so far this year – dwarfs the 173 sold in the smaller NZ market in the same period.

More importantly for AMG, sales in both Australia and NZ are outstripping those of rival Porsche.

In Australia, AMG has a lead of about 460 units over Porsche – 1990 to 1442 – while in NZ, AMG’s 173 sales easily outpaced Porsche’s 114 units.

Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific expects to sell at least 6000 AMG vehicles this year, up from about 5000 last year.

However, if sales continue on the current trajectory, that figure could soar to 7600 sales – a rise of more than 50 per cent in 12 months.

While the C63 remains the top-selling AMG model, the new E63 that lands in Australia about July is expected to cause a sales spike.

Also in the pipeline for launch this year is the facelifted AMG GT range, including the new 430kW GT R coupe and 410kW GT C Roadster.