Mercedes-Benz has given potential buyers a sneak peek at the upcoming changes to the C-Class range. The car won’t be on sale in Europe for several months and Australian sales are scheduled for the middle of 2011, but teaser pics together with a lot of technical information have been made public.
Though we tend to think of Mercedes cars as big luxurious saloons, the C-Class is actually the big seller in the range. Over a million of the current model have been sold globally. That’s principally because it’s relatively affordable, but the prestige if offers is obviously a big attraction to many people. And the fact that it is cleverly styled so that it doesn’t look like a small-medium, but rather like a large one, certainly does it no harm in the sales contest.
With a look carried down from the all-new E-Class, and even strong hints of the stunning SLS Gullwing, this upgraded C-Class is no shy and retiring mid-range car.
A radiator grille that’s squarer and more positive in its lines is an obvious reference to the Gullwing, while the under bumper intakes are more along the line of the frontal areas of the F1 racing cars (sounds a bit imaginative?). Not really because these subtle things can draw customers to showrooms. Note the addition of front daytime LED running lights through the centre of lower grilles.
The headlights are smaller than previously and no longer have the distinctive near-horizontal upper surface. Rather they are more curvaceous, with a slope downwards to the rear. We are not sure that we didn’t prefer the shape of the lights on the about to be superseded model, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and we will wait till we see the lights in the metal (in the glass?) before commenting further.
The reshaped bonnet is now made of out aluminium to reduce weight and offer slightly better overall handling balance.
Despite the substantial changes in the appearance, much more work has been done in out-of-sight areas. Mercedes-Benz tells us that something like 2000 components have been redone. Obviously many of these will be mundane items, literally nuts and bolts, as well as other fastenings, minor trim parts and so on, the German giant is showing it’s very serious about keeping its big selling C-Class in contention in the sales contest.
There is a strong emphasis on driver assistance technology, with Active Lane Keeping, Attention Assist (which keeps an eye out for a dozing driver), Adaptive Highbeam Assist amongst other features. We assume that not all of these features systems will be standard in every new C-Class model, but Mercedes-Benz isn’t commenting on which car gets what at this early stage of promotion of the vehicle.
Many of the new features in the Mercedes C-Class have flowed down from the Mercedes-Benz S-Class so are now offered for the first time to buyers on a much smaller budget. The about to be superseded Mercedes C-Class has a recommended retail price list that begins under $60,000, compared with close to $220,000 for the base (if base is the right word!) Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Mercedes has long had a tradition of introducing new technologies in the S-Class then gradually cascading them down the range to the affordable Benzes. Indeed, we suspect that engineers of marques around the globe wait with bated breath to see what technological surprises emerge with each new Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
The upgraded Mercedes-Benz C-Class will be launched in Australia midway through 2011. Full specifications and pricing have yet to be finalised.
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