Just when we thought the hot hatch segment, wildly popular for years in Europe, was finally making its way to the US, what's being dubbed as the world's most powerful hot hatch will remain forbidden fruit. The 2018 Mercedes-AMG A45, once again, won't be a part of the US lineup. Buyers instead can opt for its odd-looking four-door coupe sedan counterpart, the CLA 45. But the hatch is where it's at, and according to Auto Express it'll produce a wonderfully ridiculous 400+ hp.

The outgoing generation, certainly no slouch, boasts an impressive 376 ponies. At the moment, the Audi RS3 hot hatch, also sold solely as a sedan in the US, is the current hot hatch king, with a total of 394 hp on tap. Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers told Auto Express earlier this year the carmaker had been working on the new AMG 45 and that his engineers were given a "blank piece of paper" to start from. Moers also confirmed the new car's 400+ hp rating, which is quite a boost considering the original AMG A45 launched with 355 hp, and was later upgraded to 376 hp. As expected, the new AMG A45 will retain its all-wheel drive setup, called 4Matic in Mercedes-speak, along with a dual-clutch gearbox.

And because of the extreme output the new car will offer, Moers also isn't ruling a detuned version, such as an AMG A43, which is exactly what was done with the C63 AMG versus the C43 AMG. Doing so would also allow AMG to compete in what's become a different segment, an Audi S3 fighter, if you will. The regular Mercedes A-Class hatchback is due to also arrive sometime in 2018, and the hot AMG version won't be far behind. Too bad America won't get to experience it. Again.