Mercedes-AMG Will Only Offer All-Wheel Drive for Next-Gen Models
Giancarlo Perlas April 29, 2019
Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers revealed that they will be phasing out the rear-wheel drive models of their lineup. The high-performance division of Mercedes will only offer all-wheel drive units for their next-generation vehicles.
Moers told Autocar that they will fully execute their move to adopt AWD for all their vehicles by 2021. It will also coincide with the electrification of all AMG models.
The Moers explained that there’s a very low demand for RWD cars nowadays. He cited the AMG E-Class as an example for this trend. The AMG boss said 90 percent chose the 4WD option over the RWD back when the range offered both.
Moers told the source that the shift of customer preference is also influenced by the fact that the AMG E63 offers the Drift mode. The program disengages the front driveshafts and transfers all the car’s power to the rear wheels, which in turn provides a traditional RWD system to the driver. However, even with the AMG GT, which is yet to adopt such mode in its next-gen model, buyers still ask for the AWD variant of the vehicle. He pointed out too that people in Munich, for example, prefer 4WD due to its advantages in terms of stability and safety.
Moers confirmed that they will ditch the V12 engines as well. The last to get the power unit is the AMG S65 Final Edition. After that, the V12 will be offered exclusively in Mercedes-Maybach cars.
Moers said that the V8 will no longer get a power boost. Instead, it will be integrated to a plug-in hybrid system in order to produce extra output.
The bad news though is that even the V8s of smaller AMG variants are in danger of getting phased out because of the impending stricter emissions regulations. Because of this, the source projected that the coming AMG C63 will more likely stick with a downsized turbocharged six-cylinder unit. When asked about it, Moers commented, “There is room for speculation there.”
