Benz reveals record-breaking AMG sales

MERCEDES-BENZ Australia has sold a record 1200 AMG performance models in the first half of 2014, and it is looking to keep the sales momentum going for the remainder of the year.

Speaking exclusively to GoAuto, Mercedes-Benz Australia senior manager of public relations, product and corporate communications David McCarthy revealed that the German car-maker had sold a total of 203 C63 AMG models to the end of May, with the breakdown being 89 sedans, 108 Coupes and six Estates.

Mr McCarthy also confirmed with GoAuto that the company had recorded a record number of total AMG sales so far this year.

“From January 1 to June 30, the total AMG line has racked up 1200 sales,” he said. “If that run rate continues and I don’t see why it won’t it will be somewhere between two and two and half thousand for the year.”

Out of all of the model lines that offer an AMG variant, Mr McCarthy said the biggest seller was the A-Class-based A45 AMG with 300 sales, followed by the mechanically related CLA45 then C63 and the ML63 performance SUV.

Mr McCarthy said one of the reasons for the healthy sales was the broad range of the AMG line-up that covers a number of different body-styles and budgets.

“You’ve got everything from $75,000 to $500,000. Compact cars, medium cars large cars, all the segments we are in there’s an AMG variant, other than the B-Class, so I put it down to that.

“But it’s also driving performance – that’s the motto of AMG and that’s what we’re doing.”

Left: BMW M3 and M4.

Early this week, Mercedes-Benz announced a price cut for the C63 AMG Edition 507 Coupe by $12,900 to $159,507 plus on road costs. Both the sedan and Estate versions of the limited edition C63 have sold out.

Benz’s price reduction coincided with the Australian launch of BMW’s new-generation performance twins, the M3 and M4 this week. The BMW M4 Coupe is $166,900 plus the on road costs.

At the M3 and M4 launch, BMW M Division’s head of sales operations management Jorg Bartels said: “This really is our segment and the competitors try to overtake us but they can’t manage it – the fight is getting harder, but again we’ve kept the distance with this new generation M4”.

The comment was originally published by GoAuto in an M3/M4 story on July 3, and upon reading the article Mr McCarthy contacted GoAuto to have his say.

“Perhaps I need to buy him a calculator,” he said. “What measure is he using to assert we can’t overtake them? We already have overtaken them. It can’t be sales volumes he’s using as the basis for his assertion as C63 has totally and comprehensively whipped the M3 in Oz.

“For example let’s go back four years or so with the C63 on 2497 versus M3 on 934 units. A car selling at 37 percent of the volume of its competitor is not in a position in the segment that they can claim as their own.” Mr McCarthy said the current C63 AMG Edition 507 will be on sale for the next 12 months and that the new coupe will arrive by the end of 2015.

Production of the Estate and sedan versions of the 507 officially ended on June 30, but Benz still has stock remaining for sale in Australia.

The new C63 AMG Estate and sedan will arrive in fourth-generation C-Class guise in the first quarter of next year.