No Mercedes-Benz AMG V12s for India

Mercedes-Benz, especially Mercedes-Benz AMG has experienced a growth of 43 % in comparison to last year, in terms of its overall sales in India. The German automaker has five more models lined up for rest of the year but even so, has made it evidently clear that none of them will come with V12 power-plants. Its most recent offering, the AMG S 63 sedan features a 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8, which adds on to the grand total of 9 luxury AMG performance cars in its India portfolio.

Eberhard Kern, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India said,” We don’t have any concrete plans of bringing the AMG V12 engine as of now. The V8 engine in the S 63 AMG is a fantastic engine and fits perfectly into most of our top-end products. We would like to focus on the S 63 AMG and other AMG performance cars based on the MFA platform, which from our point of view are fit for India.”

Around the world, Mercedes offers the 6.0-litre V12 bi-turbo engine, which produces 630bhp in the G 65, SL 65 roadster, the S 65 sedan and the S 65 Coupé. The V12 AMG model requires an expensive and complex service and additional after-sales service infrastructure, which can not be justified by unsatisfactory sales of the V12 AMG units. Mercedes feels that there isn’t a market for its Goliath power plants in India as of yet, keeping in consideration its inadequate road infrastructure, which facilitates the experience of that enormous power output.

The demand for luxury cars has lured automakers like BMW and Audi to follow into Mercedes's footsteps. Audi is ready to launch 10 new models, whereas BMW’s count stands at the launch of 15 models by the end of 2015.

In lieu of the V12s, Mercedes-Benz is all-set to launch the AMG C 63 S on September 3 in India and the C 450 AMG later on. The flagship AMG GT sports car will also be launched in India later this year.

Also Read: Mercedes-Benz launches three new outlets in Chennai

Source: Autocar