Mercedes-Benz: GLC 63 SUV could outsell C 63
Mercedes–Benz Australia says the soon to arrive high-performance GLC 63S SUV could outsell the traditional brand favourite, the C63S, as the market continues its trend towards SUVs and pickups.
Speaking to CarAdvice at the launch of international GLC 63S this week, the German brand’s senior manager of public relations, David McCarthy, admitted that GLC and GLC 63 will likely outsell the C-Class equivalents in due time.
“Looking at how GLC43 is selling, yes, I think over time when you see how the trend is going in the market, the GLC could potentially overtake C-Class,” McCarthy said.
Whilst indicating that “over time, it could outsell the C63 AMG”, Mercedes believes that the market trend towards SUVs and pickups is only getting stronger, with the German brand having positioned itself to take advantage of both segments.
For now, the GLC43 is already outselling the C43, which is a likely indicator of how the higher performance variant will perform.
“C-Class has been pretty consistent between 500-700 a month depending on supply, sedans are not so much declining but not growing at the same rate. SUVs and pickups, are really what a lot of people are buying.”
With the Mercedes-AMG GLC 63s set to arrive around May-June, Mercedes-Benz Australia is making sure there is enough stock to meet the expected strong initial demand, with many dealers having already taken deposits.
“We try to have enough cars in stock to satisfy the initial demand. Quarter two is when we think we will have enough cars on the ground to satisfy initial demands and orders. We don’t want to get in a situation like we had with A45 [where the demand completely outstripped supply], I think we got it right, depending on what colour or trim… the delay from when a car that gets built and arrives in Australia is a couple of months.”
In order to further reduce complexities and improve wait times, Mercedes will also limit the customisation options and better facilitate option packages to allow more in-stock sales rather than custom orders.
“Dealers will always have stock, you actually try and reduce the number of options packs, so what people have in stock, customers can order from that unless they want something really different with colour etc. [We] don’t expect there to be big delays”
As with recent AMG models, the GLC 63S will start life with an exclusive launch edition. It will be offered in two body shapes: coupe and wagon.
The high-performance SUV is powered by the same 4.0-litre V8 as the C63, producing 375kW of power and 700Nm of torque. It will go from 0-100km/h in a staggeringly quick 3.8 seconds, making it the fastest vehicle in its segment – and even faster than the C63S.