Celebrating 50 years of Merc
LOOKING AT THE PAST AND PRESENT, BUT ABOVE ALL, FORWARD
Asmall little tuning shop, AMG, came about in 1967 when Hans-Werner Aufrecht (A) and his partner Erhard Melcher (M), combined the first letters of their surname with the first letter of Aufrecht’s birthplace of Grossaspach (G).
Fast forward some 50 years and AMG is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, and the Affalterbach-based company employs around 1 600 employees, all dedicated to deliver the brand’s promise of “Driving Performance”.
And there is no sign of slowing down. AMG started 2017, its anniversary year, with record figures under its belt, after delivering almost 100 000 vehicles in 2016, and thus growing by more than 40 percent while being in the middle of the biggest strategic model initiatives in the company’s history.
Today, sports car enthusiasts can choose from a large selection of the hardcore AMG GT family, the popular eight-cylinder models in the 63 series, the four-cylinder 45 series models in the compact segment and the recently introduced 43 series models.
2016 saw the biggest strategic model initiative in the history of Mercedes-AMG: with over ten new models being added to the product portfolio.
From January 2017 performance-minded customers are able to choose from over 50 models. In each category, MercedesAMG boasts an impressive selection: from the most powerful production four-cylinder engine in the compact segment to sporty elegant models with a superior twelve-cylinder engine, from saloons and estates to a broad range of SUVs and coupes, to cabriolets and different types of roadsters.
The available technology is among the best on offer in the respective vehicle categories, ranging from optimised rear-wheel drive to state-of-the-art all-wheel drive, as well as from a dual-clutch transmission to a sporty ninegear automatic transmission. With a total of 18 overall victories and 32 other podium finishes, the international customer and performance teams celebrated a sensational season in 2016 with the new Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Renowned teams will contest both the highly popular IMSA Series as well as the PWC, the Pirelli World Challenge.
The teams will also benefit from optimal support from Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing in the USA. As part of the strategic broadening of the portfolio to over 50 models, the number of AMG Performance Centres has also undergone expansion. .
The next stage in the development of the AMG Performance Centres will see AMG sales and service outlets with a distinct architecture in Japan, Australia and the Middle East, with the first already open in Tokyo.