One of the most heavily populated showdowns among luxury sports cars occurs between Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and BMW and their respective tuning divisions; Mercedes-AMG, Audi RennSport, and BMW M-Series. Each of these German manufactures produce high powered variants of almost anything in their lineup including compact sports sedans, grand touring coupes and roadsters, hot hatchbacks, and even heavy crossovers and SUVs. Even though you can compare models from these three brands easily on paper in terms of power, price, and luxury amenities, I feel that they are each far more distinct from one another than you might initially think.
AMG cars have always been the loud overpowered bruisers that they still are, but today they are leaning further towards drive-ability enhancements like blending in their 4Matic all wheel drive system and making cars like the AMG GT to please a more subtle crowd. AMG outright wins in terms of diversity, providing their customers with high tuned versions of the C, E, S, SLK, SL, CLS, CLA, GLE, G, and GL. There are currently only two Mercedes models in America without an AMG equivalent; the E-Class Coupe and Convertible and the new GLC crossover. The AMG tuned Mercedes cars are usually loud, flamboyant, and over powered to point where you can barely put the power down; especially in the Black Series models. For these reasons I feel that the AMG cars appeal to an audience less concerned with setting the fastest lap time and more about having fun tossing around their 550+ horsepower super sedans and listening to its deep angry exhaust note as they fly down the highway.
Switch to the other side of the spectrum and you have the people who buy BMW’s starting with an M. The BMW M cars still strive to be the most driver focused luxury sports cars, providing their owners with dozens of settings to toggle steering, throttle, and shifting when driving hard. BMW being the ultimate driving machine, they want their customers to buy an M4 knowing that they could outpace an Audi RS5 or a Mercedes C63 AMG on a track day. They are not concerned with having the most powerful, most striking, or loudest car in the competition.
Then the Audi RennSport cars fall somewhere in the middle. Audi tunes their cars right around the same mark as their other two German competitors, yet something about them gives the impression that they want to drive under the radar. Their fastest sedans like the RS7, S6, and S8 are not visually as beefed up around the edges as the AMG or M cars, but they can still take your breath away with their effortless speed and Quattro all wheel drive setup. Many drivers on the road might see an RS4 and not even take a second look because they assume it’s just another normal A4. A wealthy business man who daily drives an RS7 probably doesn’t care about track days or having the loudest fastest car on the road, he just wants a big luxury cruiser that gets him to work, but can still overtake anything else on the road.
So as it turns out these three makes all compete within the same niche market, yet they each appeal to specific needs within their customer demographic. Some of those needs might overlap, but in the end, the people buying these high powered sports cars will know exactly which brand to turn to when venturing into the world of German super saloons.