Used to be there was only one way to power a high-performance automobile: an internal-combustion gasoline engine. But that was before BMW did the M550d, Audi the SQ5 TDI, and Maserati the new Ghibli – performance-oriented diesel firsts for each. It was also before Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche started doing hybrids. AMG has been resistant to both these developments, resolutely sticking to gasoline engines alone. But it knows it will have to adapt to survive, much less to strive.

So which way will the Mercedes performance division go in the future?Likely with hybrids, less so with diesels. But don't count on either any time soon. "We will do the hybrid when the market is ready for it and in markets due to their regulations," AMG boss Ola Kallenius told Edmunds. That could be years off, but don't think that AMG will become one of the dinosaurs its engines burn. It's got the SLS Electric Drive coming out, and recently launched its smallest engine yet for the CLA45 and A45. In the meantime Kallenius feels AMG still has where to go with conventional engines. We're looking forward to seeing how they develop.