Mercedes-Benz says it wants to focus on its ultra sporty AMG cars in India. Plenty of AMG products are already available here: there’s the C63 AMG, the SLS AMG with its gullwing doors and the updated E63 AMG will be launched on July 25. But Mercedes now wants to make its AMG products more accessible.
The German luxury carmaker is looking at getting the seriously quick A45 AMG to India. What makes this car so quick is a massively powerful four-cylinder engine under the hood. The A45 AMG may only have a 2000cc petrol engine under the hood, but forced induction or turbocharging helps it attain the highest specific output among production car engines – 355bhp! The very hot hatch also features a four-wheel-drive system for greater traction and this allows it to deliver serious performance; 0-100kph comes up in a claimed 4.6 seconds, genuinely sportscar quick, and a top speed of 250kph. Styling is appropriately sporty, with most of the chrome bright work blacked out, huge 18-inch wheels sat in the wheel arches and massive red brake callipers.
Mercedes could, however, run into some red tape with the import of the new A45 AMG. The law says car manufacturers can only import cars without homologating them in India if their FOB (Freight On Board) price is above US$40,000 and if the petrol engines are above 3,000cc. This is a problem because homologation here is a long drawn out and very expensive process and the small number of cars eventually sold here would make the homologation costs difficult to justify.
If the A45 AMG, at an estimated price of Rs 52-55 lakh can’t get around the homologation hurdle, the manufacturer has also hinted that it might do a special AMG version of the car for India, possibly based on the A250 Sport. AMG body kits have been used to good effect on the C-class and the M-class and this would an obvious first step on the new A-class too. Stiffer springs and dampers could be used and so would a more powerful engine. Interestingly, the A250 Sport shares its petrol engine with the new E 200 sold in India. Power, however, is upped to a healthy 207bhp. There clearly are some exciting times ahead for Merc.