AMG + Smart = Extreme Branding Bookends for Mercedes-Benz

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Housed beneath the massive Mercedes-Benz umbrella are?AMG and Smart,?two brands which couldn't be more philosophically diverse.?We recently checked in with company heads Ola Kaellenius (AMG) and Dr. Annette Winkler (Smart) regarding the state of affairs at these dramatically different divisions.

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Though AMG premiered their ultra-exclusive SLS Black Series at the LA Auto Show-- only 200 to 300 of the FIA GT3-inspired coupes will be built-- Kaellenius told Popular Mechanics that AMG plans to continue expanding their production volume, and that the performance division is poised to outsell BMW "M" cars this year. By moving into the compact segment with the A45 AMG hatchback (which debuts in non-U.S. territories next year), AMG hopes to deliver on their ambitious sales goals with the "AMG Performance 50" plan, which aims to boost yearly global production units from around 20,000 to "well north of 30,000." "Our modest goal," Kaellenius told Popular Mechanics, "is to be the most attractive, most desirable performance brand, full stop." That said, they're also hoping to differentiate "real McCoy" AMGs from spoiler and trim packages by taking a more "expressive" approach to styling on full-blown AMGs. More controversially, the E63 AMG will soon be equipped with Mercedes-Benz's 4Matic all-wheel drive system, giving the?notoriously tail-happy sedan one more thing in common with Audi... though the technology is an indisputably more effective way to lay power to the ground.

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On the other end of the spectrum, Smart has had a rocky road in the U.S. following their strong launch in 2008, when the brand sold 24,600 vehicles here. The company is expected to move only 7,000 units in the U.S. this year, though they did enjoy an 85.9 percent year-over-year gain this past August. The audaciously styled forjeremy show car suggests that Smart is intent on drawing more attention to the brand, love it or leave it: the car sports garish wings and chrome eyelid-like headlights, and debuted to pre-show fanfare including a live performance by rapper MIA. Though a considerably toned down version of car will eventually reach production, Smart's plans for a global rebound are diversified into several curiously curated projects including an electric scooter co-venture with Vectrix, an eBike that's currently available in Europe, and an electric fortwo model which reaches our shores in Spring, 2013. But more crucial to Smart's longevity is the next-gen model, which will debut in Europe in 2014. "I wouldn't exclude a manual transmission [for the U.S. market]," Winkler told Popular Mechanics, acknowledging that the fortwo's jerky automated manual gearbox didn't do it any favors with American drivers. As for Smart's future products, Winkler insists the brand won't offer plus-sized variants a la Mini and Fiat. "We want to focus on our strengths," she insisted, suggesting that sticking to their core values will help expand the brand's global footprint.?

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/auto-blog/smart-amg-mercedes-bookends?src=rss

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