Mercedes-Benz India is celebrating ‘50 years of AMG’ in India and to commemorate the event, the German carmaker has promised to launch 12 new models this year. The 6th and 7th cars of the line-up were launched today in Chennai. The CLA 45 AMG and GLA AMG 45 have received minor updates over their predecessors and are priced at Rs 75.20 lakh and Rs 77.85 lakh, respectively. There is also an ‘Aero edition’ that comes with aerodynamic updates; priced at Rs 77.69 lakh for the sedan and Rs 80.69 lakh for the compact SUV.
The face lifted CLA and GLA made their way onto our shores earlier this year. The AMG editions of both the cars hadn’t made it to the showrooms then. Aesthetically, there is not much to differentiate between the regular and AMG variants. The cars are powered by the same engine from their predecessors. The 4-cylinder, 2-litre turbo petrol engine churns out 375bhp and 475Nm. The CLA 45 AMG is able to sprint to 100kmph in 4.2 seconds while the GLA 45 AMG does it in 4.4 seconds.
The major addition here is the launch of ‘Aero edition’ though. The aerodynamically improved variant on the CLA gets a revised AMG front apron and a new front splitter. There’s also a new four split diffuser at the rear end, painted in yellow to make it look sporty. The redesigned spoiler lip at the rear and the front spoiler lip add to the downforce. All this has resulted in a reduction in the drag coefficient by 0.02 points at 0.30. All the updates make it to the GLA Aero Edition as well. On the inside, both the cars get Artico man made leather interiors with red stitching.
Mercedes-Benz India has been continuously upgrading its entire line up, bringing the latest products to India and that has resulted in a growth of 19.6 per cent, as compared to 2016 for the luxury carmaker. The company sold 11,869 units so far this year, as we get to November. With the launch of the new entry level AMGs, expect the number to swell even more.