AMG Celebrates 45 Years of Making Mercedes Faster

AMGAMGGermany, 1966 > present17 models
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is celebrating 45 years of tuning MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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into meaner, faster cars. Below, you can watch a video that AMG produced looking at its history and how it develops cars. As part of its celebration of 45 years, AMG is also talking a little more about the upcoming A45 AMGMercedes-Benz A-Class Con...Germany, 2011 > 201129 photos
that reportedly uses a 350hp, turbocharged four-cylinder. 

The A45 AMG will have more than 400Nm of torque that will compete against the upcoming Audi RS3Audi A3 Gen.2 [Typ 8P]Germany, 2003 > 2012299 versions
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and BMW M135iBMW Concept M135iGermany, 2012 > 20127 photos
. It will use a seven-speed dual clutch AMG gearbox, sports suspension, speed-sensitive steering and improved braking. It will also be equipped with performance-tuned all-wheel drive.

AMG is moving downmarket to appeal to a younger demographic, namely 30- to 45-year-olds. It expects the car will be on sale in the first quarter of 2013.

AMG also worked on the highest performance current versions of the A-class, the A250 Sport and A220 CDI Sport. It worked on the suspension tuning and added its 5-spoke AMG wheels

"Our goal is to build the most dynamic, most powerful and at the same time most efficient four-cylinder series production compact car. Together with other future high-performance compact cars, the new A 45 AMG will embody exclusive dynamism and the 'AMG Performance 50' growth strategy. With this passionate commitment to what for us is a new vehicle segment, Mercedes-AMG plans to make a significant contribution to the growth of Mercedes-Benz Cars", said Ola Källenius, Chairman of AMG.

AMG has had continued growth around the world. It is up 7% in the US, 15% in Germany and 50% in China. Worldwide it is up 30%. AMG plans to expand from 22 current models to 30 models in the future. 

For the future, AMG is working on more fuel efficient but still powerful models. It has cylinder deactivation on the SLK55 AMGMercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMGGermany, 2011 > present14 photos
and is working on an electric version of the SLS AMG E-CellMercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-CELLGermany, 2010 > present6 photos
. It is also experimenting with using more carbon fiber to improve fuel economy and performance. AMG will also begin hand-building all of Mercedes' V12 engines, not just the AMG-branded ones. 

Mercedes Planning 350hp AMG Version of New A-Class