Currently reading: Mercedes drops Benz for new GT

New Mercedes-AMG sports car will go on sale later this year. SLS successor will not have 'Benz' name in its title, instead bringing the AMG performance off-shoot name to the fore

Mercedes-Benz has controversially eschewed any traditional reference to its founder Karl Benz in the name of its new 500bhp plus twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 powered sports car, which the German car maker has confirmed will be called the Mercedes-AMG GT when sales begin later this year.

Set to make its debut in September, the new two-seater indirectly replaces the SLS AMG, becoming the second stand-alone model to be conceived, engineered and produced by Mercedes-Benz’s AMG performance car off-shoot at its headquarters in Affalterbach on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Germany.

"The new Mercedes-AMG GT shows that we will be positioning AMG more vehemently and aggressively than to date," says AMG boss, Tobias Moers, who describes the new car as “a GT sports car in its purest form”.

The announcement of the official name for the GT at the New York motor show this week coincided with the issuing of two photographs that reveal the stylish interior of the new car, which has previously been referred to by Mercedes-Benz officials under its internal C190 codename.

The GT receives a snug two seat interior featuring high quality materials and trims together with a combination of bespoke controls and switchgear borrowed from other Mercedes-Benz models, most notably the new fourth-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

A heavily structured dashboard finished in leather and carbon fibre features a hooded instrument binnacle, multi-function steering wheel with shift paddles, free standing infotainment monitor and six round air vents dominates the cabin, which is described as being roughly the same size as that of the SLS AMG.

As with its predecessor, the new Mercedes-AMG also receives a high set centre console housing all of the major controls. The centre piece is a touchpad controller similar to that introduced on the new C-class. It is mounted ahead of a stubby gear lever for the GT’s standard seven speed dual clutch auto gearbox and is surrounded by four round buttons – two of which boast a rotary function.

A close study of the controls reveals the GT will receive four different driving modes and race start feature, two stage variable dampers, locking differential and a sports exhaust function. The new rear-wheel-drive Porsche 911 rival will also offer a full suite of connectivity options, including a range of new AMG specific apps.

In a move aimed at answering criticism of the lack of oddment space in the SLS, the new car boasts a cupholder unit in the forward section of the centre console and larger door pockets.  

Holding true to the aviation theme featured on the SLS AMG, the new GT also boasts a row of switches within the roof liner separate to those for the lighting. Included are switches for the seat heaters, rear spoiler and warning lights.

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jonboy4969 16 April 2014

Removing Benz would be like

Removing Benz would be like BMW dropping the B, a bit silly, after all he DID invent the car, it seems that only posters here want to say that ALL other motoing organisations around the globe are wrong, I know who I will believe.
soldi 16 April 2014

jonboy4969 wrote: after all

jonboy4969 wrote:

after all he DID invent the car

The key to your misunderstanding is that Benz was the first to PATENT the car, but it was invented by De Dion one year earlier. Most likely De Dion was too busy perfecting his invention to realise Benz was busy patenting it.

MB has been good at conveniently forgetting the difference and then spinning a misleading PR line.

disco.stu 25 April 2014

Who invented the car?

There have been plenty of other claimants for the 'first' person to engineer a motor car. De Dion is only one of them, but there were others in Europe all working on the same thing. Benz was the first to get real publicity out of it, and subsequently start to produce in any real numbers.

It is interesting that the company has significantly reduced the profile of Benz in recent years - starting with dropping his name from Daimler-Benz during the DaimlerChrysler merger/takeover, and then reverting to plain old Daimler when they jettisoned Chrysler. And although I agree that "Mercedes-AMG" sounds better than the clunkier "Mercedes-Benz-AMG", it's still interesting that Benz is being diminished. We abbreviate the cars to "Mercedes" over here, but most Germans abbreviate to "Benz" instead.

jonboy4969 16 April 2014

As he usually does, you

As he usually does, you expect different from Jaguar, where as with BMW you expect standard generic materials and kit, nothing to WOW teh buyer on the inside, if you dont like a particular car or brand thats fine, but to compare it with so much bias, it's getting boring.
Roadster 16 April 2014

A German sports car interior with the wow factor

A very rare German sports car/supercar whose interior isn't dull and doesn't look like it could be from a saloon, unlike the SLK, SLS, R8, 911, Boxster/Cayman for example. Perhaps the Germans are finally learning that the interior needs to reflect these types of cars and be exciting and special, like the Brits and Italians do so well. Mercedes just needs to up the material quality with the GT and it'll rival the F-Type's and And Aston Vantage's on both style and substance.
289 16 April 2014

@ Roadster

...rarely have I heard such bullshit Roadster. I don't think the British manufacturers have anything to teach the Germans on interior wow factor...not least since the 60's when Jaguar had the perfect dashboard.
BMW you may have forgotten where the first to use alternative dashboard colour lighting (Red), with the E21 3 series in 1975 which took its cues from the E12 5series of 1972!
This brought the concept of a wrap around dashboard with the red lighting and caused quite a stir....one of the first things punters in the showroom asked to see was the red instrument lighting.
Coming further up to date VW's Golf Mk4 was the first volume car to have a really classy interior with high grade soft touch plastics and Blue/Red lighting, followed by Audi with its red lighting and widely seen as the class act for others to follow in the industry in terms of interior design..
If you view a dashboard as exciting or 'special' when it resembles Las Vegas at night - with stupid logos lighting up and rising gear selectors then I understand a current Jaguar or A-M interior will appeal to you.
But I wouldn't call this style and substance...more circus act.
theadamh1234 16 April 2014

289 wrote:...rarely have I

289 wrote:

...rarely have I heard such bullshit Roadster. I don't think the British manufacturers have anything to teach the Germans on interior wow factor...not least since the 60's when Jaguar had the perfect dashboard.
BMW you may have forgotten where the first to use alternative dashboard colour lighting (Red), with the E21 3 series in 1975 which took its cues from the E12 5series of 1972!
This brought the concept of a wrap around dashboard with the red lighting and caused quite a stir....one of the first things punters in the showroom asked to see was the red instrument lighting.
Coming further up to date VW's Golf Mk4 was the first volume car to have a really classy interior with high grade soft touch plastics and Blue/Red lighting, followed by Audi with its red lighting and widely seen as the class act for others to follow in the industry in terms of interior design..
If you view a dashboard as exciting or 'special' when it resembles Las Vegas at night - with stupid logos lighting up and rising gear selectors then I understand a current Jaguar or A-M interior will appeal to you.
But I wouldn't call this style and substance...more circus act.

I think you have missed the point.