Mercedes E-Class sports wagon ‘on the drawing board’

By James Foxall

Motor Industry

26 May 2009 09:50

Mercedes is working on a sporty two-door estate, CAR can disclose. Based on the unusual Concept Fascination show car, the new niche buster would expand Merc’s E-class line-up further.

The car that’s being studied closely mirrors the Concept Fascination that was originally shown at the 2008 Paris motor show as a preview to the latest E-class saloon and coupe.

So when can I buy the new Merc E-class coupe-estate thingy?

The firm believes the newcomer could emulate the unexpected success of its CLS four-door coupe. If it gets the green light, the new E-class derivative is unlikely to hit showrooms before 2011 to allow the rest of the new range to become fully established.

Merc’s head of advanced design Steffen Koehl told CAR: ‘We are the makers of estate cars and their derivatives and we’re trying lots of different things. Mercedes is also a big maker of coupes and we’re playing with all kinds of shapes around that principle. It’s only natural that we would think about a sexy and emotional car like the Concept Fascination.’

You bet. Mercedes is revealing its first E-class Estate at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show in September. Koehl added: ‘To say function follows form is wrong but this will be the most attractive and emotional of all previous E-class estates.’

The Concept Fascination was built around the E-class platform and is a fully working model, using the firm’s 2.2-litre BlueTec turbodiesel technology.

By James Foxall