AMG - soon just another trim level?

[E55BOF]

It seems to me that AMG is going the way of Ghia as bought by Ford - after a while, it became just another trim level, and who under the age of about 35 recalls it at all now? It may take a while, because Ghia was admittedly just a styling house, while AMG has a solid performance heritage.

This conclusion was reinforced by an ad I saw for an E220CDI AMG Sport. This is a 2.2 litre diesel; good though it no doubt is, AMG? or Sport? I don't think so.....

E55BOF

 

[flango]

It seems to me that AMG is going the way of Ghia as bought by Ford - after a while, it became just another trim level, and who under the age of about 35 recalls it at all now? It may take a while, because Ghia was admittedly just a styling house, while AMG has a solid performance heritage.

This conclusion was reinforced by an ad I saw for an E220CDI AMG Sport. This is a 2.2 litre diesel; good though it no doubt is, AMG? or Sport? I don't think so.....

E55BOF

I totally agree there are very few "proper" AMG's even now, I suspect the most on the roads are AMG sport styling packs aka plastic AMG's Give it a few years and it will just be a model designation as you say.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I wonder how that southern AMG meet is going to look when all these weedy four pot diesels turn up.

 

[Charles Morgan]

I don't understand MB branding in the UK. It almost seems as though a straight MB car is now vin ordinaire. AMG is now effectively three brands - fake sport (what is AMG if not sporting?) , real (but not sporty) and black. So the real branding strategy appears to be to cheapen both the MB and AMG brand, which really is quite extraordinary.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

AMG has been "just another trim level" for years, as AMG aren't really a tuning house any more - the AMG Performance Studio is as close as it gets these days and I bet that's a tiny proportion of the AMG attributable revenue.

AMG is a desirable sub brand used by a desirable brand to sell more desirable cars to people who find the desirable brand not quite desirable enough.

 

[phoenix550]

Absolutely. Diesel and AMG do not belong on the same car.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Absolutely. Diesel and AMG do not belong on the same car.

That's what the Brabus brand seems to be for these days!!

 

[E55BOF]

AMG is a desirable sub brand used by a desirable brand to sell more desirable cars to people who find the desirable brand not quite desirable enough.

Do you perhaps feel that such people are undesirable.....

 

[Oli]

An AMG needs a 2 number model designation a V8 or V12(or V6 in the case of the C32) and a lot of power, an AMG Sport is just a normal Mercedes with nicer wheels and bodykit, nothing wrong with that at all but it's not an AMG it's a C220 CDI.

 

[Luke_C]

Lets face it, it sells cars. BMW and Audi have been doing it for years Nd it's working for them. Does it bother me that the AMG name is being "diluted"? Not at all, because if I ever own an "actual" AMG car then I'll just be happy that I can have such a car.

 

[C240Sport97]

a real AMG is easy to tell, it has a hand assembled engine from Affalterbach, it doesn't have any other words such as "Sport" or "Sport Plus" after AMG, and there are never more than 2 numbers in the model name.

AMG, the performance division of Mercedes, is very much alive and kicking.

there has never been as many proper AMGs as there are now.

for example, the A45 and CLA45 are the real thing, trashing all opposition, and sold out for months. OK, the 45 engine is hand assembled by one man somewhere else.

 

[Major774]

Think about it from the other owners' point of view... If a really AMG pulls up next to them... They look more silly with their fake badged AMG Mercedes.

 

[como]

Think about it from the other owners' point of view... If a really AMG pulls up next to them... They look more silly with their fake badged AMG Mercedes.

A bit harsh. I bought my C220 CDI last May and was offered the Sport trim - 18" alloys etc. The car is still badged as a C220 CDI, the only badges on the front wings say BlueEfficiency and I have a single exhaust at the back. There is no way I am trying to pass this car off as an AMG variant. At what point should I start to feel "silly"? I thought that this forum was about MB in general and involved like-minded enthusiasts sharing their experience. Surely it should not involve members singling out certain MB model owners and then looking down their noses at them?

 

[flango]

AMG, the performance division of Mercedes, is very much alive and kicking.

there has never been as many proper AMGs as there are now.

.

AMG is dying and to counter MB have gone for brand dilution by creating "plastic" AMG cars and offering stupid leasing deals to get numbers of "proper" AMG cars into the market, as without these lease deals the true AMG brand would be on its last legs by now.

 

[V12]

I fear that these new "amg" spec 220cdis may have a little too much amg in the suspension and not enough in the engine.
Why do they make the suspension rock solid?
I know it's a general trend of all cars, but please tell me, why!?

 

[Berkshire Rich]

Lets face it, it sells cars. BMW and Audi have been doing it for years Nd it's working for them. Does it bother me that the AMG name is being "diluted"? Not at all, because if I ever own an "actual" AMG car then I'll just be happy that I can have such a car.

This. And its only a few months since the last sprawling thread on this subject.

My car does not say AMG anywhere (edit - oops, ok on the wheels, in small print) nor do I refer to it as such. I wish

 

[Berkshire Rich]

I fear that these new "amg" spec 220cdis may have a little too much amg in the suspension and not enough in the engine.
Why do they make the suspension rock solid?
I know it's a general trend of all cars, but please tell me, why!?

The standard suspension is not rock solid. Even if you specify the optional handling pack improvements, it is firm but nowhere near rock solid. But as for the trend, it is a move towards proper handling cars, at the sacrifice of some softer compliant rides

 

[bpsorrel]

I agree. My SLK "AMG Sport" is (apart from the suspension which is supposedly lower and harder) simply a styling pack such as "S Line" for Audis. It has metal pedals and a few other cosmetic bits and pieces. The wheels wear AMG logos but aside from that "AMG" only appears on the floor mats!

No way is it an AMG and I would never refer to it as such.

 

[bolide]

Interesting that the AMG, M-Sport and Quattro brands have all been repositioned and continue to be rejigged to suit

BMW has their new i-brand and I expect that will be a focus for the next few years while M-Sport takes a back seat

Nick Froome

 

[Rashman]

I have to say that I find it all abit disappointing.

There does not seem to be any exclusivity with AMG anymore. And it's their own fault.

Ok, you can't stop people putting AMG wheels etc on their non-AMG cars, but it's very sad when MB offer to do it for you!

AMG's should have slightly more aggressive styling, a few other enhancements here and there.... and a large thumping V8/ V12. That's what AMG is to me.

I cringe when I see a non-AMG badged up as an AMG when I'm out and about.

In the same way as I cringe when I see a non-M BMW badges up as one.