If you’ve been paying attention to the world of fast Mercs lately, you’ll have noticed some intriguing new vehicles appearing. For decades now, the AMG brand has been reserved for top-of-the-range, big-horsepower incarnations of the Mercedes range. But things are changing at AMG, and the Affalterbach-based Mercedes division is broadening its scope.
This started in 2010 with the SLS, the first AMG-only product, a supercar not based on an existing Mercedes. It was followed last year by the AMG GT, the SLS’s spiritual successor.
As well as introducing these “pure” AMG machines, the division is widening its remit in the other direction. When the fire-breathing new C63 was launched last month, it was revealed to journalists alongside an all-new AMG-badged model, the C450 AMG. Where the C63 boasted a 469bhp V8, the C450 sported a twin-turbocharged V6 with 362bhp, and all-wheel drive. Based on the “regular” C400, it had been significantly upgraded with AMG parts, including many from the C63 itself.
Keen-eyed onlookers noticed an interesting bit of nomenclature – the full name of the V8 monster is the Mercedes-AMG C63, while the new car is the Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG.
This new naming system tells the story. From now on, full-on hard-core AMG cars, like the C63, will be known as Mercedes-AMG models. But this new segment, between the AMG beasts and the regular Mercedes cars, sticks with the old naming system that labels them as Mercedes-Benz and adds the AMG suffix.
This new “AMG-lite” range, which so far comprises the C450 AMG and the GLE 450 AMG, is the result of the increasing power of the hard-core models, according to Tobias Moers, AMG’s chairman.
“The increase of the performance in our performance cars was so big that it shows a big gap to the standard cars, for example with the C400 and the C63,” he explains. “Obviously there’s room for something in between.”
Moers is very insistent that this new segment of less powerful AMG cars doesn’t dilute the brand. “It’s not a concern,” he says. “We’re aware of that discussion, but it’s a different car, in a different line-up, in a different segment. For us, it’s a new product line-up; we have the sports car, and now we have the sport models. We will always provide for the market driving performance and cars that fit perfect into the different segment.”
From a business perspective, Moers doesn’t expect cars such as the C450 to take away from the more established, top-of-the-range AMGs. Rather, he expects them to attract new customers to the AMG brand.
“We have a huge customer range and fan community for the C63. We sold more than 40,000 cars of the previous model and the order bank for the new C63 is nice. The C450 buyer is a different customer that we’re targeting – those that are looking not for that high-end performance but for something in between. We never before had an offering for these people.”
Moers says that comparison with Audi’s range is reasonable – think of the regular C-Class as Merc’s A4, with the C63 as the RS4 and the C450 as the S4.
These new entry-level AMG products aren’t one-offs – we’ll see more across the Mercedes range, and more AMG-only cars. Suggestions of what these could be are met with silence from Moers, but he admits that there’ll be more versions of the AMG GT.
“Everybody was enthusiastic about the AMG GT, so there is a lot of room for different variants in the future. It gives us a load of homework, because AMG is not a big company.”
Our money is on more AMG-only cars at different price points. The SLS was in supercar territory and the AMG GT targets the Porsche 911. But that still leaves plenty of rival cars waiting for a challenge from Affalterbach.
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Naga
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Company%20Profile
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
