The biggest highlight about the New Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 Coupe (quite a mouthful) is not the car itself but the fact that this is the first AMG to be assembled in India. What is the big thing here you may ask? Well, this signals the growing importance of the performance luxury car market and also expanding the reach of performance cars. Typically India is seen as a chauffeur driven market but the changing buyer preferences along with a lower average age of a luxury car buyer in India has triggered a demand for performance cars. Mercedes being the current market leader has jumped at that chance and brought in an AMG at a much lesser price. Thus if Mercedes, like others, would have imported the GLC 43 AMG, it would have been close to Rs 1 cr but now it is Rs 76.7 lakh. Now that is a lot of performance for that money.
Speaking of which the rather sharp looking GLC 43 AMG Coupe gets a V6 petrol with near 400 bhp and 520Nm. Standard is a 9-speed automatic and it is a all-wheel drive car but is rear biased. In other words, if you try something silly it will not lose grip easily yet still provide a proper fun-to-drive experience. Emphasis on the fun part is the agenda here set by Mercedes as this car is seriously quick. Nothing at this price or maybe even slightly above, matches the performance or the noise. Put the GLC 43 in its sportier mode and hit the ‘loud exhaust’ button and it is a proper noise with pops and crackles. It is addictive to say the least. The performance is as good as it can get and we do not think you would need a more faster car as more often than not, you would be going over the speed limit very easily without noticing.
The other part of the GLC 43 AMG we really liked was the use-ability. It is not a huge car and you can park it in tight sports plus it is an SUV with a generous amount of ground clearance too hence it has none of the sports car tantrums. It feels properly well built inside with some special AMG touches like the steering-wheel or the red seat-belts along with the seats. You have every gadget as well along with a brilliant touch-screen display and digital instrument cluster. Oh, it is a connected car which means you can control various functions of the car via an app.
Thus the GLC 43 AMG is a lot of car for the money and yes it looks mean along with being a special performance car to look at courtesy that huge grille and those lovely 20-inch wheels. Overall if you want a performance car without paying silly money for it, then this is it.
