Mercedes-AMG just declared war on BMW M, and the weapons list is brutal
Affalterbach is done playing catch-up. CEO Michael Schiebe wants 200,000 sales by 2030 and is bringing back V8 muscle to make it happen.
Affalterbach has finally decided to stop chasing — and went on the offensive. Mercedes-AMG CEO Michael Schiebe announced that the brand will roll out more than 27 new cars over the next 36 months. The goal is ambitious: catch BMW M by the end of the decade, after years of being firmly in second place.
The gap, frankly, is enormous. In 2025 Mercedes-AMG sold 145,000 cars — 7% more than the year before. Sounds solid, until you glance at the competition: BMW M delivered 213,457 vehicles and locked in its 14th record year in a row. AMG is now aiming for 200,000 annual sales by 2030. That’s a 38% jump over today’s numbers.
So what’s coming? The list is impressive. New six- and eight-cylinder models, the long-awaited GT Black Series, a G63 Convertible, an extreme CLE under the Mythos sub-brand with a V8 under the hood, a less radical CLE 63, and a six-cylinder C53. Add to that an electric SUV on the new GT 4-Door Coupe platform. The brand clearly refuses to pick between classic combustion and electrification — it wants both.
But behind the lineup expansion lies brutal optimization. AMG will cut the number of engine variants from ten down to just four. The new era will run on a revamped inline-six M256 Evo and a fresh M177 Evo V8 with a flat-plane crank. Electric AMGs aren’t going anywhere either — they stay firmly in the strategy.
For sports car buyers looking at 2026 and beyond, the message is simple: AMG is back. Wide lineup, real combustion engines, electrification running in parallel. And this time, the brand looks dead serious.