As India’s automobile market matures, and infrastructural development tries to keep pace with it, it’s the consumer who is in a win-win situation: He gets his hands on more great metal. After a decade of premium car leadership and a virtual monopoly, Mercedes-Benz is now getting more serious. The cars division of Daimler AG is bringing in its AMG range to spark interest among both enthusiasts and consumers alike.
What is AMG? Well, the full form is Aufrecht Melcher Großaspach, but that’s Germanspeak for the in-house high-performance division of Mercedes-Benz. The cars with the additional AMG badging are all about extra power, greater speeds and higher performance overall. So the regular Mercedes-Benz cars are souped up to offer more vroom!
Now on to the details. This month, Daimler is offering virtually the entire AMG range to the Indian buyer. This includes the AMG versions of the S, E, SL, CLS classes of vehicles. It is interesting to note that Daimler is bringing this range into India after arch rival BMW introduced its M range to India soon after debuting its operations here in 2007. BMW’s M Division, of course, produces the powerful Beemers.
But having said that, the AMGs are still exciting. The cars will range in price from Rs96 lakh for the SLK 55 AMG to Rs2.67 crore for the S 65 AMG.
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And these cars pack in some serious horsepower too. AMG engines go from a 5.4 litre V8 with 360bhp on tap, to a 6 litre V12 with a mind-blowing 604bhp on tap. Sales begin later this month.
DRIVING IN FOGGY CONDITIONS
As winter sets in, fog has started playing havoc with our everyday lives in many parts of the country. Not only does it disrupt rail and air travel schedules, it also poses a danger to traffic on our roads. So here’s a quick check on how to stay safe in foggy conditions:
• Always drive with your vehicle headlights on low beam. The high beam bounces off the fog and tends to blind you, creating the impression of a thicker fog curtain.
• If your vehicle has strong fog lights, use those and put your main lamps on parking. This allows you to see more.
• Drive in second or third gear and be aware of where you are headed—following the pavement or median helps.
• Never blindly follow the vehicle in front.
• If the fog is thick, turn on the vehicle’s hazard lights.
• In the event of an accident, first check on yourself and other occupants, and then the condition of the vehicle. Try and quickly move the vehicle to the side of the road. If this is not possible, distance yourself from the vehicle since oncoming vehicles may collide with yours.
• But before leaving the vehicle, do turn on hazard and parking lights.
• You can also use the hazard triangle if you have one. Stay safe!
Siddharth V. Patankar is editor (auto), NDTV. Write to us at roadrunner@livemint.com