Mercedes' AMG tuning house coming with factory tour
For many BMW fans, visiting the automaker's M performance division in Munich is akin to finding the Holy Grail, which is why the workshop's factory tour program has been a runaway success. Strangely, rival tuner AMG has been very slow to open its doors to the public.
All that could change, as new European delivery arrangements may give AMG customers a chance to visit the factory and see their cars being built. Management at the Affalterbach-based tuner is considering opening the doors to the factory to satisfy a growing desire from many of its customers to visit the premises. "We have been working on a factory tour in Affalterbach for awhile," revealed AMG's director of marketing and sales Mario Spitzner. "We are starting slowly because the demand would be more than we could handle."
Unlike BMW's M range, which is limited to a handful of cars, AMG offers a substantial number of cars, meaning getting a chance to go behind the scenes will likely entail dealing with long waiting lists. or could be limited to customers ordering only the most expensive models.
[Source: Edmunds]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Snowdog 5:33PM (9/21/2007)
test.
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SPG 5:36PM (9/21/2007)
I have always wanted to do a European delivery.
It's a dream of mine.
Getting a new car that you own to drive in Europe and the other perks of European Delivery.
Interesting story to tell your friends too.
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zen zen 5:43PM (9/21/2007)
zzzZZZzz. I might care more about AMG when they wake the crap up and put a MANUAL TRANSMISSION in their 'performance' cars. Just slapping a supercharger on an engine does not an enjoyable drivers car make. This slushbox only thing that AMG is pushing is beyond ignorant, who are they targeting? Old men who cant push their left foot down but just want to THINK they're faster than everyone else?
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Val 7:53AM (9/22/2007)
Obviously they know what they are doing when half of their cars are sold in the US, and they make more than 20,000 cars a year.
mint 3:03PM (9/22/2007)
Only problem is, that much torque would rip any manual gear box into pieces.
SuperSkyline89 8:36PM (9/22/2007)
AMG's aren't cheap little racers, they're incredibly expensive luxury cars that go fast. The people that buy them are rich and couldn't care less about shifting gears in rush-hour traffic or getting the best track lap time. I dream of owning an AMG one day but I wouldn't even consider buying a manual considering traffic in Toronto Canada is a nightmare and I don't want to sit there shifting gears for 3 hours a day.
zen zen 10:20PM (9/22/2007)
That much torque will rip a manual gearbox to shreds? Righhhht. Nice try. Did you know there's a plenty of cars with a lot of torque that have manuals? Viper SRT10 560 lb-ft, Koenigsegg CCX 678 lb-ft, Saleen S7 Twin Turbo 700 lb-ft. That's what AMG salesmen tell the fat old men when they buy the car so their egos aren't bruised cause they don't know how to drive a stick. On the street among real car enthusiasts AMG is a badge that tells everyone you are a rich old guy who can't drive a stick and wouldn't know what to do with a real drivers car. Just cause you mash the Go-Fast pedal in your AMG does not make you a skilled driver.
zen zen 10:22PM (9/22/2007)
Val the reason half their cars are sold in the US is because people in the US can't drive stick shifts and have too much money. Which is what the AMG badge stands for.
James 1:50AM (9/23/2007)
like, if you didn't sound like a 16 yr old teen your whole 'AMG stands for "fatty who cant drive stick"' argument might actually be insulting to your intelligence rather that just resulting in pitty on your uneducated self. AMG is running a business, and a rather successful one at that. And it is simple: manual gearboxes do not sell as well as autoboxes, and the R&D required to make and reinforce these gearboxes to handle the incredulous torque of Mercedes engines makes it less and less appealing for AMG to release such a box. AMG does not mean 'I can't drive stick' - AMG means 'my SLUSHBOX can change gears quicker than you, bitch! And has 7 forward and 2 reverse gears. And its not even a DSG dual clutch setup, just your standard auto-lockup torque converter tranny. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it zen zen. Don't diss it till you drive it. Go test drive one.... if you have your license yet haha
AutoForums.com 6:07PM (9/21/2007)
Wow, now that's the way to buy an AMG :D
http://www.BenzWorld.org
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graviton 8:43PM (9/21/2007)
nice
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olddavid 11:38AM (9/22/2007)
There truly is nothing new under the sun. All the American makers had programs called Dealer Drive, where you could watch your car get built and then drive it home, saving the freight. We used to make trips en masse with 10-20 people in the late 50's early 60's. It was discontinued in the late 60's. Too bad. It personalized an impersonal process, and we made friends we had for life.
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Mikey 11:57PM (9/22/2007)
i think its a good move to have the Auto, they sell more with the auto because it appeals to more, the second u put the manual gear box in there, instead of the auto, sales will drop insanely. but i think it would be good to have their main sales come from autos and have a side but rear manual transmission for the good old people who like to drive on roads that dont have stop signs and city traffic...
i can careless for manuals where i live, and i live in an area with alot of driving roads, to me, its more cruising, and not everyone can handle a crazy adrenalin rush that could put you in a hospital.
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Mikey 11:58PM (9/22/2007)
i meant a side RARE manual, or something cool like a dual clutch thing i heard they were gonna get from ZF in a couple years.
j_diesel 4:55AM (9/23/2007)
i will, one day, own an AMG. i pretend to buy one every year because i can't afford one right now. i would love to get a CLS63 AMG. and european delivery would make a fun trip and story. and i WOULD get the auto even if a manual was offered. i can drive either very well but what kind of a moron wants to feel the burn in his left leg in stop and go traffic in a tux driving to the opera?
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