Mercedes-AMG boss: C63 will stay 4cyl, fully-electric performance car by 2025

Recent speculation has suggested Mercedes-AMG is planning on ditching the new C63’s four-cylinder hybrid. It’s not. Like it or not that’s here to stay.

Speaking to TopGear.com, Michael Schiebe, AMG’s CEO, said: “I know there is some talk in town about ’why did you kick out the V8 from that car?’. But we want to be very, very progressive when it comes to technology. And we are convinced of the hybridisation concept, there we will stay with the four cylinder.

“We take into consideration what is the target market? So for example, the Chinese market is not very strong in terms of coupes, but very strong in sedans.” In other words AMG sells more C63s saloons in China than it does in Europe, and the Chinese are embracing electrification and don’t have our attachment to the V8.

“Will we convince each V8 lover of the [C63 hybrid] concept? I don't think so. But at the same time, we conquered many, many new customers that we wouldn't have done with the V8.”

So how do you keep Europe satisfied? There’s a CLE 53 on the way with a twin-turbo straight six. So is there more headroom in that 3.0-litre to wring out more performance? “We will see if there are more products to come with that engine. The US market plays a big role for that car. And there the six cylinder engine is an important one.” Encouraging stuff. However, the straight six is a BMW signature – could this be AMG launching itself at the M4's jugular?

We’ll find out in due course. For now Schiebe is keen to talk electrification and AMG's first all-electric car. “We are going to launch our car by the middle of the decade and we will have a high performance battery and a high performance drive train. And that will be something which we specifically develop in house only for AMG.”

AMG's first EV will not be a retuned EQE, in other words. It will be an all-new product built on an all new platform, codenamed AMG A. “It's so important that we deliver in this segment, deliver on our promise and what we want to stand for, which is performance. We need to be a little bit edgy. AMG stands for driving dynamics, you need to have this feeling that an AMG provides. So we will definitely deliver on that one as well.”

Can you do all of that and make it weigh less than two tonnes? “Depends, I don’t want to tell you what our weight targets will be for this car. But lightweight work is an intensive task.” Work that also involves Mercedes’ Formula One team. “We are in constant exchange with them. They have much more, let me call it ‘rocket technology’ that we may use in our cars.”

But you don’t see any big gains in battery technology coming down the line in the next five years? “I didn’t say that.”