GENEVA, Switzerland — The 2019 Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupe is one of the top two or three highlights from this year’s Geneva International Motor Show. It’s the second road car designed and engineered completely by Mercedes-Benz’s in-house AMG division, which also produces World Manufacturer’s Championship Formula 1 cars. To get a closer look and better understanding of this brutally handsome new four-door, we spoke with AMG chief Tobias Moers at an offsite event not far from Geneva Palexpo. Here’s what you need to know about the four-door Mercedes-AMG GT, deliveries of which Mercedes will begin late this year…
1. It replaces the Mercedes-AMG CLS 63 S.
The 2019 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class will be sold in the U.S. only with variations of the automaker’s new 3.0-liter inline six. Top-spec for the CLS will be the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 4Matic, with a 320-horsepower twin-turbo 3.0, plus 16 horsepower from its standard 48-volt system. The AMG GT four-door is designed to pick up from where the CLS 53 leaves off, with either 577 hp or 630 hp, in S form from its twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8, 4Matic all-wheel-drive and four-wheel steering. Expect the GT four-door to start somewhere around $110,000 in the U.S.
2. But it’s not at all related to the CLS.
Despite their similar shapes, the AMG GT four-door is bigger than the new CLS, with completely different sheetmetal from the Panamericana-style nose, back. The CLS and GT four-door do share their dashboard design and shape, and like the CLS, the GT has a vertically upright digital instrument panel, but that’s about it. The GT four-door features a V-shaped control panel (for “V-8”) surrounding the infotainment system’s haptic control.
3. The GT four-door’s structure is based on another AMG, though not the one you might think.
“Its structure is based on the E63 wagon,” Moers says. The wagon’s chassis has been stiffened even further for the GT four-door.
4. A hybrid is on the way for 2020.
Like the concept of the AMG GT four-door, which was unveiled at last year’s Geneva Motor Show; there will be a hybrid version, due in ’20. “Now, at AMG, hybrid is a performance hybrid. It’s not necessarily a long-range hybrid. But it gives you some freedom to ride purely electrical… Even on a racetrack it should be capable to run lap after lap without any loss of state of charge and state of energy in the battery. This is the demand for our staff. This is what we are working on.” Also, he won’t rule out a rear-wheel-drive version, which hints that as with the AMG GT coupe and roadster, more performance variants may be on the way.
5. The Mercedes-AMG GT four-door is designed to be a 2+2 AMG GT.
“What we tried with that car is kind of transfer the driving dynamics out of the GT, out of the pure sports car, with the two-seater, two-door sports car into a different segment. As well as doing some innovative things regarding user interface with our new control unit on our steering wheel,” Moers says. The digital-interface button shifts the chassis from between Comfort, Sport, Sport+, Slippery, and Individual settings. “Nobody else has this.”
