Apologies if already mentioned, but I had a brief search and didn't really find anything.
Mercedes-Benz and their in-house high performance tuning company AMG are experiencing very good times. Sales are up, and the appeal and popularity of their products has been enormous.
Nearly all Mercedes-Benz models have their top-of-the-range version as the AMG model, for all body variants. Not all are available in every country, but Mercedes-AMG make a C63 sedan, estate and coupe; CL 63 and 65 coupe; CLS 63 4-door coupe; G55 off-roader; S63 and S65 sedan; SL 63 and 65 roadster, and an ML 63 SUV, soon to be brought across to the new shape, and in the long-term, the popular GL-Class will receive an AMG variant in its second generation. The new SLK will most likely receive the AMG treatment also. Even the R-Class had an AMG variant at one stage!
One of Mercedes-Benz's most popular and segment dominating models, their E-Class, is produced in the sedan, wagon, coupe and cabriolet body styles. An AMG variant is available, but only for the sedan and wagon. As Mercedes-Benz seem to not be hurrying to produce an AMG coupe or cabriolet E-Class, many suggest Mercedes-Benz have even cancelled such a car and scrapped the idea. Allegedly, they claim it might rival their new CLS 63 AMG. Confused?
What confuses me, and surely many others, is why they would miss the AMG variant on two of their popular models. Many of my friends, who know I love cars, ask me what Merc's rival to the M3 is, and I really don't have much to say. I see plenty of E500 coupes and cabriolets over here in Australia, where the smaller, 4-cylinder models usually take preference, so I'm sure across in America and other Mercedes-Benz markets, the E500/E550 is a popular choice also. Meanwhile, the more expensive CLS is moderately popular, but hasn't taken off, and the CLS 350 option definitely seems to be the more popular choice over the 500/550 and 63 AMG.
The M3 is a market leader and is arguably one of the best cars available, ever. The new C-Class coupe, which won't be made into a convertible, is an inch smaller than the M3, which is 3 inches smaller than the E-Class, so size-wise, the M3 and E have pros and cons when comparing them against each other in the dimensions department, but realistically, 3 inches doesn't put them into another category. Matched with a full AMG bodykit, the new E-Class coupe and cabriolet would be (once again debatable but..) very good looking and agressive cars. Paired with the power of a 5 and a half litre 63 AMG engine, I'm sure this would be very tempting to those looking at the E550 or even the M3!
Time will tell, but in my opinion, the C63 AMG won't be an incredibly popular car. While pricing hasn't been completely finalised in all markets, over here in Australia it seems as if the coupe will cost more than the sedan and the wagon. Meanwhile, the E-Class coupe and cabriolet, which are also based on the C-Class sedan, seem to be finding their way into the homes of many. M3 sales are on fire. In my opinion, Mercedes-Benz is out of line with their competition. The C-Class coupe is too big to directly rival the 1 Series, being 8 inches bigger. And then the E-Class coupe and convertible are within a similar size of the M3, but they don't have an AMG variant to compete against the very successful BMW. How can Mercedes ignore such an important market? For some reason, they see fit that there seems to be a market for an AMG variant of a 7-seater SUV, but not for a 4-seat coupe and convertible?
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