The AMG C63 went on sale in Germany in June 2023 with a starting price of €114,887 for the sedan. Fast forward to September 2024, it now costs €115,174. Or does it? In reality, it's actually much cheaper now that Mercedes has switched to a more transparent pricing strategy in its home market. It can be yours for €105,960, which means it costs about the same as the BMW M3 Competition xDrive (€105,300).
It's not that unusual for a car manufacturer to list the full price and then try to lure you in with a fat discount. Mercedes is doing this after switching to the agency retail model in Germany. There are no more price lists available on the company's website since the automaker dynamically adjusts the prices in the configurator. A customer can no longer negotiate a final price with the dealer. Mercedes sets the price and that's it.
Mercedes is now directly selling cars to customers, thus theoretically removing concerns a customer might have about whether they could get a better offer from the dealer. The brick-and-mortar shop is still involved in the process since it finalizes the deal and earns a fixed fee for each vehicle sold.
The German luxury brand abolished the usual PDF price lists at the end of July, and going forward, it'll frequently tweak prices and discounts on its website. The AMG C63 Sedan is currently €9,214 off, so about $10,220 at current exchange rates. The discount is even bigger in the case of the AMG C43 Sedan since it now costs €74,136, down by €10,110 ($11,213).
There are several C63s in stock with fat discounts applied, lowering the asking price to M3 xDrive levels. However, that's before any applicable incentives from BMW dealers since the Bavarians haven't switched to the agency model. It’s bound to happen in 2026. BMW promises that "standard nationwide pricing for identical vehicle models will ensure price transparency for customers."
Mercedes has yet to publish sales figures for the AMG C63 in its domestic market but there have been plenty of unconfirmed reports that the car isn’t selling all that well. The three-pointed star has defended its decision to switch from a V-8 engine to a plug-in hybrid four-cylinder. In an interview with Top Gear magazine, AMG CEO Michael Schiebe said:
"We want to be very, very progressive when it comes to technology. And we are convinced of the hybridization concept, there we will stay with the four cylinder."
Last month, the company's Australian boss said people will embrace four-cylinder AMGs like smartphones, adding that “transitions always take time and always take some convincing and experience."
That's not to say V-8s are dead. Mercedes recently confirmed plans to launch new AMGs with eight-cylinder engines. Rumor has it the CLE63 is first on the list.
In the meantime, it’s easy to see why enthusiasts will prefer the M3 over the C63. Aside from having a larger combustion engine, it does away with the electric bits, making it much lighter. The European version of BMW’s sports sedan tips the scales at 3,924 pounds in Competition xDrive flavor, so it’s nearly 850 lbs lighter than the AMG. The M3 also comes in cheaper rear-wheel-drive configurations, including a base model that has a manual gearbox.
In the United States, an AMG C63 starts at $85,050, making it $1,425 more attainable than the M3 Competition xDrive. However, a base M3 with the manual is cheaper, at $77,175.
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