After months as a rudderless ship, Mercedes New Zealand has snuggled closer under the Australian umbrella with an Australian general manager, Ben Giffin, close-knit transtasman ties to launch the facelift C63 AMG coupe, sedan and wagon, and a slew of Bluefficiency engine updates leading into a busy 2012.
Giffin has been with the brand for 12 years and must understand the vagaries of our market, not least the effect of used imports on new-car marketing and our penchant for performance cars: "I'm still wrapping my head around it."
Mercedes faces competition from used-import AMGs and MLs from as far afield as Europe. But Australian ties deliver economy of scale and Giffin aims to build on this year's 14 per cent lift in sales with the launch of the new B-Class small car next year, a more economical M-Class, an SL replacement and the imminent arrival of a suite of AMG cars, including the SLS AMG, ML63 AMG and a C63 AMG Coupe Black Series which has already sold out. Meanwhile, the C63 AMG has had a facelift with new powerdomes for the bonnet, a single louvre grille, new front apron and LED running lights, plus a DTM-style rear apron with diffuser and LEDs. The cabin has seen major changes aligned with its C-Class donor, including a new telematics platform that includes a race timer function.
It still gets the fire-breathing 336kW/600Nm V8 under the bonnet, capable of hurling the coupe from 0-100km/h in 4.4sec followed by the wagon two-tenths later; not bad for something that can double as the family car. The transition is assisted by four drive modes and a three-stage stability control system, which allows some drift angle on sport or can be deactivated for race track shenanigans.
A performance pack adds 22kW, 19-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels, performance brakes with red calipers, a carbon-fibre boot lid and a rear spoiler (not fitted to the wagon) for $14,500 on top of a purchase price that starts at $166,900 for the sedan and tops out at $169,900 for the wagon.
