Mercedes-Benz AMG Expands the Brand

AFFALTERBACH, Germany — AMG, the sporting arm of Mercedes-Benz, is opening 175 new AMG Performance Centers around the globe by the end of 2009. The goal is to expand the brand and enhance customer relationships in 15 countries, including the key markets of Germany, the United States, Japan and China.

The new AMG centers will feature a redesigned sales showroom with consistent furnishings, materials and color palettes. Through the designo program, customers will be able to personalize their vehicles with unique paint, materials, trim and content, and a customer hotline will connect each center to AMG headquarters in Affalterbach.

Each center will also offer the AMG Performance Roadshow, a total customer immersion in the AMG brand, including talks from expert presenters and "intensive" test drives in a variety of AMG products.

From Edmunds Inside Line

Myths About Leasing - Part 3 of 5

Myth 3: Excess wear-and-tear charges are unfair.

Not so. These charges are designed to make you pay for your (over)use of the vehicle. You'd face the same financial hit if you had purchased the car. Dings in the door or tears in the upholstery would cut into how much you'd get when you traded it in. The charge on a lease is more in-your-face, but the financial pain should be about the same.

But don't leasing companies pile on charges for wear and tear? No, says Jerry Mahoney, who provides leasing for American Automobile Association members. "If anything, they have become more lenient, giving the consumer the benefit of the doubt."