Mercedes-AMG boss admits abandoning V8 led to loss of customers

In a conversation with Car magazine, the head of the sub-brand, Michael Schiebe, made it clear that the transition to a rechargeable hybrid system based on a turbo-four was not accepted by some customers. “There is no doubt that we have lost customers who are keen on V8s,” said the Mercedes-AMG boss. However, Schiebe insists that the choice of power plant for the current AMG C 63 was correct.

Michael Schiebe called the C 63 “a very important car in the portfolio.” The specialist said that it uses the latest technologies from Formula 1. The functionary explains the modest sales of the super hybrid simply: in his opinion, Mercedes-AMG was unable to properly explain the technology to sellers and customers and missed the opportunity to make the right first impression.

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The strategy of the sub-brand from Affalterbach is briefly explained by the desire not to put all its eggs in one basket. The portfolio will include all types of transmissions: from “pure” internal combustion engines and hybrids to electric vehicles. However, the future of Mercedes-AMG is not associated with the internal combustion engine: Michael Schiebe is confident that there is no need to slow down the pace of the transition to electric traction, and high-performance cars in the future will not have gasoline units.

“New technology opens up a lot of opportunities for us. You can do a lot of new things that are not possible today with an internal combustion engine,” said the Mercedes-AMG boss. Interestingly, three months ago Michael Schiebe claimed that customers would not notice the replacement of the V8 with electric traction at all.

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