The Mercedes-AMG A35 has been neatly priced

The Mercedes-AMG range is getting increasingly tricky to understand, with all manner of model numbers that don’t equate to the engine sizes of the cars their badges are stuck to. But some welcome clarity has arrived with the pricing of the A35 AMG hot hatchback, which costs, rather neatly, £35,000.

Well, £35,580. And you’ll likely add options to that; a £2,395 tech pack that gives you the fancy widescreen media, £495 if you want some proper smartphone integration and the £2,595 AMG Style pack if you want the flicks, wings and wheels of the car in this picture. You’ll have something that looks just like a regular A-Class otherwise.

So in truth it’s probably a £40,000 car (or more), sending the AMG range back into its spiral of confusion. We suspect that won’t stop it selling, though. The Mercedes-AMG A35 is a VW Golf R rival with a 302bhp 2.0-litre turbo engine driving all four wheels, yielding a 4.7sec 0-62mph time and 155mph top speed.

In short, it’s a slightly softer stop gap before the full-bore A45 AMG arrives. What’s the betting that starts at £45,000?