The internet has bashed Mercedes-AMG for swapping its snarling V-8 in the C63 for a hybrid four-cylinder instead. So much so that the company has since hinted at replacing the four-cylinder with something more powerful in the near future.
With that in mind, Mercedes-AMG CEO Michael Shiebe recently sat down with MotorTrend to reflect on the direction of AMG. And Shiebe had an interesting snippet about the brand’s most controversial AMG product to date.
Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1
Regarding the car, Shiebe said, “We probably could have better explained the technology to our customers. There are pure V-8 fans, and it’s hard to convince them of this four-cylinder hybrid technology.”
The statement keeps with the tone of Mercedes-AMG’s previous communications on the product: It’s the consumers who don’t understand, not a fundamental problem of the product itself. That line of reasoning has held firm, even as AMG has been forced to sell the C63 at crazy-steep discounts in order to move inventory.
Shiebe noted later in the same interview that Mercedes-AMG also plans to build more visually distinctive cars to help separate AMG from Mercedes’s mainline products, but that’s never been the C63’s problem; it’s a gorgeous little car with excellent proportions that strikes a perfect balance between stealthy and sinister, as with all great AMG’s.
Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1
Indeed, we’ve driven and talked about the new four-cylinder C63 plenty—both on video and in a controversial column. In response to the general outrage over the car, Mercedes told us that falling in love with the new four-cylinder C63 would simply take time, even after admitting it lost customers over the switch away from V-8 power.
It’s unlikely that we ever see a V-8 in the C63 again, but here’s hoping that the brand had something other than a four-cylinder planned for the car’s next iteration. If it even happens at all.
