AMG Speedway: the South Korea Racetrack That Bears the Iconic AMG Name

In the minds of people, the name AMG stands for two things: performance and winning. It is Mercedes-Benz’s sports car and high performance brand, and a fully owned subsidiary of Daimler AG.

Here’s a bit of history on AMG. It was founded in 1967 by Mercedes-Benz engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher in Stuttgart. AMG is an abbreviation of Aufrecht, Melcher and Großaspach (Aufrecht's birth town).

The company started off designing and testing racing engines. Soon, it expanded into building custom road cars based on standard Mercedes cars. It had success on the racetrack, like at the Spa 24 Hours, European Touring Championship and the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) racing series.

With that success, DaimlerChrysler, as it was known that time, bought a 51% stake in the company in 1999. In 2005, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG under the name of Mercedes-AMG GmbH.

The racing pedigree of AMG cars is without question a winning combination. So much so that now the AMG brand has a racetrack named after it – the AMG Speedway. According to officials, the track in South Korea makes sense as the country is an important market.

It will serve as a performance-proving ground, and a prime location for debuting new models as well as dealer-training, among other events.

The track was originally built in 1995 and is 2.7 miles (4.3 kilometers) long. It has 17 turns and even extends over a bridge.

"The AMG Speedway is the world's first racetrack bearing our name. This underlines the importance of South Korea as one of our main markets," said Tobias Moers, CEO of Mercedes-AMG.

“The AMG Speedway is thus not only an important step in the further dynamic development of AMG in South Korea. It also stands for the strategic expansion of our face-to-face communication. Customers and fans can experience the essence of our brand here firsthand," he added.

There will be an abundance of AMG logos around the circuit – on billboards and sidewalls – and at various special locations, like the AMG lounge and the AMG pit lane at the end of the paddock. 

Mercedes-AMG was born on the racetrack more than 50 years ago. For the first time in the world, it is only fitting that a racetrack now bears the successful and iconic brand name.