Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Just hours before the official reveal of the all-new A-Class, it seems all is not as we've been told. New names have been registered with the Canadian patent office, which cut against the grain of what Mercedes themselves told us.
While the boss of the AMG brand told everybody about the A 35, the supposed name of the softer hot hatch that will slot below the A45, Autoguide reports about names like A 40 and CLA 40.
That's not as interesting as the CLA 53 and A 53, which suggests the A 45 will change its name to reflect its power increase. Of course, looking under the hood of the hot hatch, you won't find the same 6-cylinder engine as in the recently revealed CLS 53.
Looking further through the filings, we find the SLC 40, SLC 50 and GLE 50. To us, these alphanumeric designations mirror BMW's range. The Bavarians use the letter M in combination with the old naming system to signal the cars that are "not that special."
The best example of this would be the X3 M40. So with the SLC 40 or GLE 50, Mercedes is admitting that those aren't real AMG models, but it's the only way to have that specific engine in combination with the body style. It's reasonable to expect that the SLC 40 will be powered by the same thing as an E 400. As for the GLE 50... we're split between the CLS 53 and the S 560 engines (the latter is less likely).
Lastly, we have the G73 and S73 names, which basically confirm previous rumors about a plug-in hybrid AMG engine to rival the one in the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and potentially the Audi RS7 e-tron. How does over 800 horsepower in a factory-made G-Class sound?
Some believe these names suggest regular, non-AMG models will use two-digit names; we think that's impossible. I mean, how could a CLA 53 sit in the range above the hyper version?
That's not as interesting as the CLA 53 and A 53, which suggests the A 45 will change its name to reflect its power increase. Of course, looking under the hood of the hot hatch, you won't find the same 6-cylinder engine as in the recently revealed CLS 53.
Looking further through the filings, we find the SLC 40, SLC 50 and GLE 50. To us, these alphanumeric designations mirror BMW's range. The Bavarians use the letter M in combination with the old naming system to signal the cars that are "not that special."
The best example of this would be the X3 M40. So with the SLC 40 or GLE 50, Mercedes is admitting that those aren't real AMG models, but it's the only way to have that specific engine in combination with the body style. It's reasonable to expect that the SLC 40 will be powered by the same thing as an E 400. As for the GLE 50... we're split between the CLS 53 and the S 560 engines (the latter is less likely).
Lastly, we have the G73 and S73 names, which basically confirm previous rumors about a plug-in hybrid AMG engine to rival the one in the Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid and potentially the Audi RS7 e-tron. How does over 800 horsepower in a factory-made G-Class sound?
Some believe these names suggest regular, non-AMG models will use two-digit names; we think that's impossible. I mean, how could a CLA 53 sit in the range above the hyper version?
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