Mercedes-AMG's next 45-badged models getting 420 hp

That's a serious upgrade over the current 45s.

Mercedes-AMG confirmed its second-generation 45-badged compact models will pack a serious punch.

The A45, CLA 45, and GLA 45 will each boast 420 horsepower, AMG boss Tobias Moers told Autoblog on the sidelines of the New York auto show. He added that figure will vary slightly in the United States because we measure horsepower differently than in Europe -- the final number might be 416. Regardless, 420 (or thereabouts) is a serious upgrade considering the current 45s offer 375 horses.

While additional specifications remain under wraps, we expect AMG will continue to use a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. It will boast an impressive output of 210 horsepower per liter of displacement. The engine will be mounted transversally, every Mercedes compact is built on a front-wheel drive-based platform, but it will spin the four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Performance numbers are still being kept secret.

Moers told Autoblog the all-wheel drive system found in the 45s will not be the same one fitted to the mid-range 35 models (pictured). He didn't reveal what will be different, but he said the technology "doesn't know what understeer means."

We expect Mercedes-AMG to begin rolling out the 45s before the end of 2019. We'll see the A45 and CLA 45 models first, possibly as soon as the 2019 Frankfurt auto show, while the GLA 45 is still a few years away from breaking cover.