Mercedes AMG is shrinking its overcrowded range of electric vehicles

AMG GT Black Series Image: Mercedes Benz

AMG has a new boss and new plans come with a new boss. According to an interview with UK’s CoachThe new AMG boss Philipp Schiemer plans to downsize the brand and concentrate on higher quality models. He wants you to blame electrification, not his crowded lineup at the moment.

Schiemer told Autocar that with the industry-wide push towards electrification, the AMG model range should be reduced. He says this while acknowledging that former CEO Tobias Moers has managed to put AMG in a “phenomenal position in the performance market”. Much of it can be read between the lines.

Schiemer also said he wanted to move the brand away from low-end models by “focusing on high-end models and” reducing performance to the entry-level level “.

Image: Mercedes Benz

The currently cheapest AMG model, at least in the USA, is the AMG A 35, the starts at $ 46,900. The next cheapest models are the AMG CLA 35, AMG GLA 35 and the AMG GLB 35. In Europe, the smallest and cheapest AMG model buyer is the A class hot hatch.

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The brand will also differentiate itself from regular Mercedes models by having more unique styling as the brand integrates more technology and moves on to powerful electric vehicles.

Future models may also vary further in design from the regular Mercedes range as AMG is starting to use a unique performance EV platform that is currently under development.

More unique styling, moving away from cheap models … that’s how AMG says that its current range of products has too many cars that don’t look like AMGs, don’t drive like AMGs. Where have we heard that before??

With the technology and the switch to electric vehicles, the weight of the batteries is added, Schiemer is well aware of this. He wants to use even more technology to hide this extra weight.

Ever more sophisticated chassis software will compensate for the inevitable increase in weight caused by batteries, said Schiemer, but the rise of fast chargers and better charging infrastructure should mean that at some point customers will accept cars with smaller and lighter batteries that benefit from higher performance.

In the long term, the change should be interesting for AMG. These plans should allow the brand to focus on higher performance as the brand wants to lean on the Mercedes F1 program, with Schiemer looking to bring F1 technology into performance cars.