Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe adds style

The two-door newbie joins the existing C63 sedan and wagon that have made the V8-powered hotrod a long-term success in Australia, and contributed to one of the best AMG sales rates anywhere in the world.

Previewed at the Australian International Motor Show, after a last- minute flight from Germany, the C63 Coupe is still more than two months away from local driveways and an inevitable local shootout with the rival BMW M3.

But it is touting a powerplant with 336 kiloWatts and 600 Newton- metres in a two-door body that joins the regular C-Class lineup next month. Mercedes-Benz buyers are expected to rush to the new coupe - in both forms - but the company sees extra growth potential in the C63. "The reason we air-freighted that car to Australia for the show was because people wanted to see it.

You don't pay the equivalent of three Qantas business-class airfares just to fill a spot on the stand," says David McCarthy, spokesman for Mercedes-Benz Austraslia. "There are people who want the Coupe. It's a spot that's been lacking in our range. The C63 comes in September, a month after the regular Coupe."

While shoppers will line the C63 up against BMW's benchmark two-door M3, McCarthy is almost dismissive of the rival.

"People see the coupe as a competitor to the M3, but we don't see it that way. It only sells about one-third of our C63 volume, so the M3 is only a niche player."

AMG sales are continuing to boom through the first half of 2011 and the addition of the C63 is expected to produce a new record total at the end of the year. "It only depends on supply. Last year we did 507 C63s, with about 50 Estates, and we have more than 30 orders for the two-door. With the new Coupe I expect that last year's figure will be surpassed, but it's too early in the year to say."

The motor show car was displayed in plain Diamond White, but there was plenty of colour at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre with a special CLS coupe in Le Mans red, and even a tiny Smart ForTwo in the Jaffa orange - part of a $5000 tickle - used for a special AMG CLK at last year's Sydney show.

Away from the hotrod hero, Benz confirmed at the show that the starting price for the all-new SLK would be coming down by $10,000. Even so, it was a fully-loaded SLK 200 - with Fire Opal paintwork and the costly new high-tech 'sky roof' - that was rolled into the spotlight.

"It just continues our price-value strategy. That's what customers want: more equipment and better value. We had an opportunity with that car, again, to provide that," says McCarthy. Pricing for the new C-Class Coupe is also set from less than $70,000 for the C250 CDI, with the promise of 5.1 litres/100km economy and CO2 emissions from 134 grams/kilometre.

"The Coupe will come in August, complete with the new facia, transmission change and 1000-plus other improvements that have just come in the sedan. We're doing them all at once - sedan, wagon and then coupe," says McCarthy.

No-one at Benz is naming the price for the racey red CLS, as the paint alone - applied on the company's G-Class four-wheel drive production line - cost an extra $30,000.

The car, tweaked from the Designo catalogue, is likely to follow last year's Jaffa hero car into a special display and sales program after its time at the motor show.