The brand-new Mercedes-AMG C63 and C43 will be assembled at the East London facility, for both SA consumption and export.
Mercedes-Benz South Africa has confirmed its brand-new AMG offerings will be assembled locally. Headlining this line-up is the brand-new and recently-revealed Mercedes-AMG C63 S E Performance with its potent hybrid setup. Gone is the V8 and in its place is a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine driving the front axle and an electric motor on the rear axle.
Combined, the new AMG powertrain punches out a total of 500 kW and 1 020 Nm. Straight-line performance is impressive considering its weight of the new electric setup, with a 0-100 kph dispatched in just 3.4 seconds. The best part? Mercedes-Benz South Africa has confirmed this model will be launched locally in the 4th quarter of 2023.
For those who don’t want to wait that long and want a taste of the new Mercedes-AMG electrified performance, the new C43 will be launching in SA as early as January 2023. This features a 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine paired to all-wheel drive and a 9-speed automatic transmission. Outputs of 300 kW and 500 Nm are offered, and the vehicle will sprint from 0-100 kph in just 4.6 seconds. We’ll have pricing and specifications for this model early next year.
The confirmation from Mercedes-Benz that it will be building the AMG derivatives along with the standard W206 C-Class models is a great boost to East London and the immediate suppliers in the vicinity of the plant. This is not Mercedes-Benz SA’s first rodeo when it comes to AMG production, as the plant assembled the V8-powered C63 S and the 6-cylinder-powered C43 since early 2018. The engines from both of these vehicles were imported from Germany to South Africa for final assembly.
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