Mercedes-Benz Again Previews A45 AMG in Semi-Covered-Up Prototype Form

Mercedes-Benz recently has gotten into the habit of releasing its own spy photos of future models, and the company's latest in-house sneak-peek sheds new light on the upcoming A45 AMG. A few months ago, Benz confirmed the project and we found a few images of a camouflaged A45, but the bright yellow A45 hatchback in these photos—which Mercedes posted to its Facebook page—is wearing much less coverup. The yellow A45 may be further along in Mercedes-Benz's internal striptease than the black example shown off this summer, but stuff like the front fascia is still hidden. The car's naked back end reveals a butch rear fascia with dual exhaust outlets, and the attractive black wheels are new. Fingers crossed the slick rims make it to production. (Yeah, we know, the A45 won't be sold here, but here's to hoping the AMG version of its four-door cousin, the CLA—which we will get here—gets these wheels, too.) Frankly, we're a bit surprised by how tame the A45′s styling is; it pretty much looks like a regular A-class hatch, only with larger intakes in the front bumper and a nifty rear bumper. First Drive: 2013 Mercedes-Benz A-class First Drive: 2013 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG Instrumented Test: 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG The look may be incognito, but the A45′s powertrain is sure to stir things up in the high-performance compact arena. That's because we're told the hot hatch's turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder will make around 350 hp. Those raging ponies will be routed to all four wheels via an all-wheel-drive system and an AMG-specific seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Look for the A45 AMG to appear for Europe this coming spring, likely at the 2013 Geneva auto show. Read full story » from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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