With its eight-cylinder engine having run its final lap, the C63’s future is now reliant on an electric-assisted four-pot.

WHAT kind of world is it where a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine can end the reign of a V8 hugely respected for delivering beastly, brutal performance?

A cruel world, perhaps, but also the real world … which is taking us to a destination we cannot avoid, a place of change.

The new-generation of the C63, which out of all Mercedes-AMG products is the one that perhaps raises greatest immediate challenge to ongoing type allegiance given that it has consistently been the strongest sales star for the national distributor, is finally set to land.

The car that has switched from a twin-turbo V8 to turbo four-cylinder hybrid power gets here almost a year behind schedule.

It was originally tipped as an early 2023 entry then was been pushed to mid-year, then finally announced as being set to come at the end of 2023.

Almost right at the end. Mercedes Benz NZ announced today it will have stock in the showroom from December 15.

Ahead of that landing, Mercedes Benz NZ has today resolving the last big question. How much? 

Try $199,900, which buys the car in its Kiwi-preferred ultimate ’S’ performance package, which is now known as the ‘SE’. You can work out why.

The car is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine – producing up to 350kW and 545Nm – and a 150kW/475Nm electric motor, bringing its total outputs to 500kW/1020Nm.

The figures are impressive, yet the decision to curtail practice of powering the flagship C-Class with anything but the V8 it has long had … has been controversial. 

Sales overseas are said to have slowed and, of course, there was big furore in August when reports - all spurious - claimed Mercedes-AMG was considering a U-turn and would return an eight-cylinder.

What’s coming will still be super fast (the claimed 0-100kmh time is 3.4 seconds) and is certainly more efficient than any previous C63.

Benz cites 9.1 litres per 100km economy and WLTP3 emissions of 229 grams per kilometre.

Like the $149,500 C43 that is already entrenched here and arrived having abdicated a V6 for the same 2.0-litre as the C63, but with a less advanced hybrid system, it probably will have different feel and certainly is unlikely to sound anything like the same. 

But, frankly, if you can think of another way to meet those European Union fleet CO2 emissions targets and avoid so avoid eye-wateringly huge fines, then AMG would like to hear about it. They cannot.

Mercedes-Benz is yet to reveal plans for a new-generation E63 AMG, though overseas publications have reported it may not be renewed, and instead the lower-performance E53 would become the flagship AMG model, with six-cylinder plug-in hybrid power.

The car-maker’s decision to axe V8 power in the E-Class is a contrast to its German rival BMW, which will launch the all-new M5 next year with a twin-turbo V8 engine and plug-in hybrid technology.

In addition to announcing the C63’s local supply, MBNZ has also signalled that the coupe version of the GLC300 is here, for $125,900, a $12k premium over the sports utility model.