Mercedes Says All-Wheel-Drive C63 AMG Not Coming, Black Series Unlikely

43-series AMGs, M-sport BMWs, and S-line Audis catch a lot of flack. Like sport-badged midsize sedans, enthusiasts like to claim they're sporty in name only. Well, can it. They aren't hurting AMG at all, so you can shut it—at least, that's the gist of what AMG chief Tobias Moers told CarAdvice. 

“I don’t see any dilution in the brand, no,” Moers said at the New York Auto Show. “If every car fits perfectly into the brand, these cars in Germany and Europe for example, they win every comparison test, so my expectations are moving targets as well."

What he's saying, essentially, is that AMG models are still sweeping the floor with the competition, and this is boosting the brand. That's his opinion, and I trust you'll disagree in the comments. But he does make a good point. The full-fat Mercedes-AMG 43 models are hugely different than a simple sport package; the uprated models come with bigger engines, more aggressive transmissions, and more agile suspensions.

As for the 63 range, well, there's good and bad news. (It's actually the same piece of news, just likely to be taken in both ways by different people.) The brand's new 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system, introduced on the E63, won't be coming downrange to the C-class. Some see the system as heresy that dilutes the rear-wheel-drive performance. Others herald it for offering full RWD when you want it, and AWD when you don't. Either way, get the idea of an AWD C63 out of your head. If you want an AWD car on that platform, Moers directs you towards the GLC63 crossover.

“The C63 AMG in this generation will never get all-wheel drive, and a Black Series of the C63 would be rear-wheel drive of course, but we are so busy, I don’t know if that’s going to happen,” he told CarAdvice.