Excitement was at an all time high as the first locally manufactured Mercedes-AMG C43 4MATIC rolled off the production line in East London, Eastern Cape.

Since its official launch earlier in the year, the AMG brand promise: Driving Performance and the associated typical character traits can now be experienced by an even broader target group.

When it comes to Mercedes-AMG products, we automatically assume that they are manufactured in Germany and then shipped to markets around the world.

This is not the case as the Mercedes-Benz plant in East London has started building C-Class sedan AMG products, with the first completed unit rolling off the production line recently.

The Mercedes-Benz facility in East London, South Africa, is one of the best examples of local automotive manufacturing. It forms a major part of the C-Class production network and it makes both left-hand and right-hand drive models for the global market.

The factory also makes the plug-in hybrid C 350 derivatives and recently, its production line was expanded to include the AMG models.

The Mercedes-AMG C43 4MATIC and C 63 will now be built at the East London facility and it is great that Daimler sees South Africa worthy of further investment.

The first car has already been completed and it was a white C43 sedan. The new Mercedes-AMG C43 4MATIC is based on the most powerful production model of the C-Class, the C 400 4MATIC. The engineers have revised many technical features of the new AMG sports model. Their objective: A high level of authentic driving dynamics geared towards the Mercedes-AMG C 63.

To this end, a host of suspension components were adopted from the top-of-the-line V8 model. The driver also feels the DNA of the C 63 in the application of the engine and transmission management. Agility and sportiness dominate the intense driving experience in the C43 4MATIC on every kilometre.

Featuring a 270 kW 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbocharged engine, this baby AMG bridges the gap between the brisk C400 and the sledgehammer C 63.

This means the entire C-Class sedan range is now manufactured in East London.