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Mercedes on the Mend
Beset by Poor Ratings, the Once-Arrogant Luxury Carmaker Embarks on a Self-Improvement Course
Paul A. Eisenstein
From the Print Edition:
Tom Berenger, July/Aug 2007
(continued from page 4)
The latter is the créme de la créme of the Mercedes fleet, with a 6.5-liter, 12-cylinder engine making a jaw-dropping 604 horsepower. It's more than just raw horsepower, though. The 12-banger is an elegant work of kinetic art, an initially limited-edition series of 40, clad in a Terminator-style liquid-metal paint and dubbed Alubeam.
As for the CL63, it features AMG's primary power plant, a specially developed 6.3-liter, normally aspirated V-8. Its introduction, a little more than a year ago, marked a surprising transformation for the brand-within-a-brand, since AMG had traditionally relied on slightly smaller, supercharged engines.
The absence of Autobahn speed limits notwithstanding, the United States makes up half the market for AMG products. And about a quarter of global production is earmarked for Southern California, where speeds on the notorious I-405 often average in the single digits.
As big as AMG has gotten, there's still room for growth, suggests Mornhingweg. You can now order a wide range of the division's performance and appearance accessories to upgrade Mercedes models. And for those looking to log some track time, there's a new, circuit-ready AMG Black Series. There'll be more limited-edition models, like the 40 Alubeam CL65s, Mornhingweg hints. AMG recently debuted in China, a market with "a lot of money," says the clearly impressed executive, and demand is growing in Russia and other emerging markets.
But as it gets ready to celebrate its 40th birthday, can Mercedes' high-performance subsidiary adapt to other challenges that threaten to reshape the global automotive market? New rules in Europe will force automakers to sharply reduce CO2 emissions—and similar steps seem likely for the United States as well. "In the near future, we will offer new technologies so our customers can save fuel—but without sacrificing the performance side," asserts Mornhingweg.
Exactly what's under development, he isn't saying, though he hints that performance- oriented hybrids are one possibility, and then there was the one-off diesel that AMG experimented with several years ago in Europe. The C-Class model was just as fast as the gasoline alternative and proved extremely popular. If diesel demand revives in the States, an updated "oil burner" could be added.
Barring some catastrophic crisis that chokes off fuel supplies or otherwise limits demand for high-performance products, the company started by Aufrecht and Melcher, in the little town of Grossaspach, will likely remain one of the auto industry's global success stories.
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