A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz has told just-auto that the forthcoming A 45 AMG, the sports version of the new A-Class, will not be making its world premiere in the next few weeks, as some media have speculated.
There had been some suggestion that the A 45 AMG would be revealed at either the Moscow motor show later this month or the Paris show at the end of September but just-auto‘s contact has ruled out both possibilities.
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Daimler names the forthcoming model in a press release issued earlier on 15 August. This release concerns 105 years of four-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz vehicles but its only other mention of the A 45 AMG is to note that the car will have an all-wheel drive system. The model will likely make its world premiere at next year’s Geneva motor show.
The high performance version of the new A-Class is expected to be powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine. According to media reports, the engine’s codename is M133. It is also believed that it will not be built at AMG’s Affalterbach works, but rather at MDC Power GmbH, Daimler’s three- and four-cylinder assembly plant at Kölleda in central Germany.
Like other AMG vehicles, the A 45 should have its suspension, powertrain and other components fitted by AMG at Affalterbach after delivery from the A-Class plant at Rastatt.
M133 is also likely to be the powerplant for the CLA 45 AMG. This, a speculative model name, refers to a possible sports version of project C117, the so-called ‘four-door coupé’ which Daimler has not yet officially named. The company confirmed in March that such a body style would be built at Kecskemét in Hungary. Unlike the A-Class, this car should be available for buyers in the US during 2013 alongside the B-Class and a possible B 45 AMG derivative.
Author: Glenn Brooks
