2021 Mercedes-AMG S63 due imminently with snarling V8 hybrid

Affalterbach's flagship luxury saloon goes hybrid for 2021, packing more than 800bhp in its most potent form

Just a few months after the launch of the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class, AMG is almost ready to reveal its substantially more potent take on the luxury flagship. 

Marking itself out as the Affalterbach-fettled car by its sports wheels, unique grille, bespoke bumper designs and square-tip quad-exit exhaust, the pictured prototype was captured by our photographers on public roads and at the Nurbürgring. Its light exterior camouflage and production ready-interior suggesting a reveal will take place in a matter of months. 

As with the previous-generation car, the S63 can be expected to retain the tech-heavy interior and overall proportions of the luxury-focused standard car, while gaining significant chassis tweaks alongside its more powerful engine, which will be exclusively hybridised for this iteration.

Two plug-in AMG-badged variants are inbound, both propelled by a variation of the same twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 that powers the brand's GT supercar and GLE 63 performance SUV. The standard S63e 4Matic+ will mate the petrol engine with a 134bhp electric motor for a combined output of around 700bhp, while a more potent range-topper will boost overall output to 831bhp, courtesy of an uprated 201bhp electric motor - as already deployed in the new GT 63 S E Performance. 

It's not yet clear which model has been spotted here, but visual differences between the performance duo are likely to be minimal, as is the case with AMG's E-Class-based E53 and E63. 

The S65 will not return for this generation, with its V12 engine continuing only in the Maybach-badged range-topping versions of the S-Class and GLS SUV. In 2019, Mercedes launched the S65 Final Edition as the previous-generation S-Class bowed out of production, taking with it the 12-cylinder engine and marking an end to nearly 30 years of V12-powered non-Maybach models.