You Could Soon Get Your Fast-Benz Fix at a Standalone AMG Dealer

Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 (Credit: Mercedes)

Eventually, the almighty dollar gets the best of all automakers, even high-end ones. Today, a new report from Automotive News confirms that Mercedes is starting to see huge dollar signs in its AMG arm. While this sounds like a hell of a lot of fun on the surface, it could result in the AMG name taking a hit if Mercedes does it wrong.

» Related: Mercedes-Benz Working on its Own EV Sub-Brand

According to the Report, Mercedes is working hard toward expanding its AMG lineup, which is now known as the Mercedes-AMG sub-brand. Recently, we’ve seen some questionable expansions, including the C43, E43, and GLC43—all of which are essentially fluffed-up AMG Sport models. What’s more, Mercedes is still looking to add 10 more Mercedes-AMG models, bringing its total offering to a whopping 48 models. This leads me to believe that we’ll see a ton more of this near-AMG models.

While that dilution is pretty bad, the worst has yet to come. AMG boss, Tobias Moers, said that it is already urging dealers to separate the AMG models from the standard Mercedes-Benz model and that there are standalone AMG showrooms in the works. One AMG-only dealer is set to open in Japan and another is being discussed for Australia.

You may be wondering why I think standalone AMG dealers are a bad thing—more powerful Mercedes models are good, right? Well, yes, but with standalone dealers, AMG may be tempted to start spreading its wings even further and losing its way. Imagine, if AMG became little more than just another luxury car showroom with a cool name and not the performance-oozing showroom we all imagine it would be. Scary stuff, right?

Let’s just hope that Mercedes keeps these standalone dealers overseas and chills the hell out with the slew of new AMG models. Seriously, we’re running out of models to tune here, and I fear we’ll soon see an AMG-tuned Metris and Sprinter.