Mercedes-Benz Australia claims the new 500kW four-cylinder hybrid AMG C63 is winning over V8 customers – but even after a test drive, it admits not all are convinced.
Test drives of the latest Mercedes-AMG C63 – now a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid – are convincing owners of the outgoing V8 version, according to the boss of Mercedes-Benz Australia.
However, the German car giant acknowledges not all V8 owners are yet sold on the new high-power hybrid C63, and says it will take “self-convincing” from customers over time to get them over the line.
It comes amid continual denials of reports claiming Mercedes-AMG is considering a return to V8 power for its hero C-Class sedan due to disappointing sales of the new four-cylinder version.
MORE: 2024 Mercedes-AMG C63 review – Australian first drive
The 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder plug-in hybrid system fitted to the C63 sedan and related GLC63 SUV delivers 33 per cent more power than the V8 – now 500kW – but has been criticised for lacking the engine note and character of the previous model.
Mercedes-Benz CEO and managing director Jaime Cohen told Drive the new C63 is “absolutely” attracting interest from curious potential buyers wanting to test drive what is the first flagship AMG C-Class in nearly 20 years without a V8.
“There’s always a Mercedes traditionalist that comes in, of course, and then looks at what we’ve done with the C-Class, so it’s great,” he said.
“But we always strive to bring new customers to the brand, of course, and I think the C63 accomplishes that also very well.”
Asked how the split between new and existing buyers for the four-cylinder differs to the V8, Mr Cohen said: “I don’t think you can lay down a pattern of, these are like that, and these are like that. The questions, for example about the V8, come from both.”
He told Drive: “For us, the response in the end [is] they say, ‘The important thing is the performance, and the way you do that is get on it and drive it.’
“We have demos with our agents. … Some people will still perhaps let the idiosyncrasies get in the way of the performance of what they’re feeling. But a lot of them come out and they say, ‘I really didn’t miss the other car.’
“Some are still saying, ‘Wow, great, wonderful, but it’s not a V8.’
“Well, any transition takes time, and we’re breaking a paradigm here, and that always requires a little bit of convincing and time. Self-convincing by the customers. We think that’s going to happen.”
The ’63’ designation used to loosely refer to the engine size – when the C63 was fitted with a 6.2-litre V8 – but it is now an indicator of the flagship AMG variant in a given Mercedes-Benz model’s line-up.
“It was simpler back then because it was really denoting the capacity of the engine … but what do you do when you start getting into electrics, hybrids and plug-in hybrids? … How do we work with the number down in the back?” he said.
“What the decision seems to be is okay, let’s respect the idea and concept of this, because the customer understands it.
“It’s our role to explain [to] them, a) how this software works and how this is a great performance, but b) is let the customer experience it. In the end it’s the customer who makes that decision that [it is] right.”
Deliveries of the new AMG C63 commenced in February, about six to nine months behind the original planned launch date of mid-2023.
Over the first six months of this year, 162 new C63s have been reported as ‘sold’ – a tally that includes dealer demonstrators and media evaluation vehicles – accounting for about one in seven C-Class sedans sold.
Mercedes-Benz has historically not supplied model-by-model sales data for its AMG vehicles, with the numbers above extrapolated via plug-in hybrid vehicle sales data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI).
However, a company spokesperson told Drive in 2022 that over the final nine months of 2021 – March to December – the C63 range accounted for about 20 per cent of C-Class sales, or approximately 600 vehicles.
At that time, the C63 was available in sedan, wagon, coupe and convertible body styles – not just a sedan, as it is today – but production of the final V8 sedans and wagons was winding down.
Reports claiming plans were underway to return the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 to the C63 have been denied by Mercedes-Benz, and refuted by other media outlets with sources inside the German car giant.
Mercedes-AMG is reportedly preparing to fit the CLE63 – the flagship AMG version of the replacement for the C-Class and E-Class coupe and convertible ranges – with the V8, rather than the four-cylinder hybrid system.
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