AMG GT sedan here first
Meantime,
next year’s all-new GT sedan, which is yet to be named but won’t be called the GT 4, enters production in mid-2018 after debuting in production for at the Detroit show in January.
Moers confirmed the four-door, four-seater won’t be based on the same supercar-style rear-transaxle platform as the two-door, two-seat GTs, but rather a version of the E-Class sedan platform, specifically the E 63’s.
Moers said using the GT’s transaxle design would have limited rear foot room and made the wheelbase too long, like “an example from the UK”.
The GT sedan will launch first in 63 guise, powered by AMG’s biturbo V8,
before it is joined by a hybrid version previewed by the Geneva concept’s 600kW V8 petrol-electric all-wheel drive powertrain.
“There’ll be more than one engine, not just 63,” he said, before we asked him about a hybrid version.
“Absolutely. Not from the beginning but you can expect that.”
But while Mercedes-AMG’s GT sedan and Mercedes-Benz’s CLS, a new generation of which makes its debut in Los Angeles in November, are both four-door ‘coupes’ based on the E-Class, they will be very different offerings that will both take the fight to Porsche’s Panamera.
For starters, there won’t be a V8 version of the third-generation CLS, the top powertrain in which will be AMG’s new 370kW 3.0-litre turbo petrol-electric hybrid system. It will be
badged as the CLS 53 and it will make its debut in LA.
The next CLS will also offer a five-seat layout while the GT sedan will seat just four, and the latter will be a liftback with two side windows rather than a booted sedan with three.
Finally, the GT sedan will be priced higher than the equivalent GT, as well as the CLS, of which there be no Shooting Brake wagon version this time round.
Moers said the GT sedan will broaden the market bandwidth of the AMG-exclusive model family more than ever, in much the same way Porsche has expanded its Panamera range with multiple engine variants plus a wagon version, which could eventually be joined by a coupe.
“Coming out of our experience with SLS, because its starting price was very high we didn’t have that much room to increase our portfolio price-wise,” he said.
“So when we set up the GT program it was very clear from the beginning that we would spread that portfolio. It starts in Europe for under 100,000 euros, then you have room for adding other variants.
“In the sports car segment the guys at Zuffenhausen do it quite well.
In that segment it’s about being busy. When you have a new variant you can talk about it.”
Moers pointed out that AMG’s assembly plant is running at full capacity for the fourth year running, and that the GT sedan would not only attract owners of the GT coupe but ‘conquest’ customers from other brands.
Also expected from AMG in 2018 is an upgraded C 63 based on the facelifted C-Class, following the late 2017 release of 63 and 65 versions of the new S-Class Coupe and Cabriolet, as well as the facelifted S-Class sedan.
Further afield, AMG will release a new GLE 63 based on the redesigned large SUV due Down Under very late next year, a revised G 63 based on the heavily updated 2018 G-Class and an expanded range of new compact performance cars wearing 45 and, potentially, 35 badges.
These should include the new A-Class hatch and all-new A-Class sedan – which will be sold alongside the new CLA sedan – as well as the GLA crossover and B-Class people-mover.
“There’s a new generation of compact cars coming,” confirmed Moers. “We’re going to have a 45 successor for sure, and we’ll have an entry-level compact, maybe 35 or whatever.”
