V8s Aren’t Core To Our Appeal, Says Mercedes-AMG Boss

Picture an AMG Mercedes, and it probably has a great, rumbling V8 engine, and is likely surrounded by lots of tyre smoke. While AMG cars have been powered by everything from turbo four-pots to V12s, the V8 has been at the forefront of the brand’s output for most of its history, and especially since it became a fully-fledged part of Mercedes in the late ’90s.

Of course, AMG can’t outrun the times forever, but the meagre sales of the new four-cylinder hybrid C63 – together with the fact that Merc appears to be planning a switch back to V8 power for the related CLE 63 – seem to suggest that, at least when it comes to the brand’s larger cars, a big, noisy engine is still central to the appeal.

AMG’s CEO Michael Schiebe, though, disagrees. Speaking to Autocar, Schiebe said that “Customers who came to the brand because of the V8 did not come because they just wanted to have a big engine. They came because they loved the technology that we put into the car.”

It’s a fairly bold statement when, in the immediate term, the figures seem to suggest that big engines very much are at the core of why people like AMGs, but Schiebe remains optimistic that it’s the brand’s technical appeal that will drive people towards its EVs. Those EVs, says Schiebe, are still ultimately AMG’s future, despite it currently planning on extending the lifespan of some of its higher-selling ICE models: “It’s clear that we’re going all-electric.”

This EV push, according to Autocar, will be headed by a new all-electric supercar inspired by 2023’s Vision One-Eleven concept – itself a nod to Merc’s C111 series of experimental prototypes from the 1970s. Before that, though, the first bespoke AMG EV is set to be a four-door saloon to replace the current AMG GT 4 Door, with styling inspired by 2022’s Vision AMG concept.