Mercedes coupes: the next generation

By Georg Kacher

Motor Industry

14 October 2008 13:28

Mercedes is to shake up its entire family of coupes, CAR hears. The changes kick off with the new E-class coupe and will include a proper new C-class coupe (instead of today’s short-cut CLC), as well as repositioning the top-dog CL.

The CLK badge will die next year, replaced by the E-class coupe. It was shown in concept guise as the Fascination shooting brake concept car at the Paris motor show, which shows the front-end styling of the new E family, including the coupe.

Why launch a sporty two-door E-class? Simple. It’ll at a stroke boost sales figures for the total E-class range, especially against its 5-series and A6 rivals. It’ll move the old CLK up half a notch (with, we suspect, according price rises). And it’ll pave the way for the subsequent switch from CL to S-class coupé designation.

Yes, Mercedes-Benz is secretly preparing to tweak its entire coupe range.

In sync with these name changes, the CLC replacement due in early 2010 will be sold as a C-class coupe. About six months after the signed-off fixed-head, we are likely to see a four-seater soft-top C-class cabrio.

We don’t yet have any artist’s impressions of the new C-class coupe, but we’ve attached a couple of official designers’ sketches for the current CLC, which give a flavour of what Mercedes is trying to achieve with its smallest coupe.

Although the engineering bods in Stuttgart have made provision for a cabriolet version of the new C, marketing has yet to give the green light to what could be the fifth C-class bodystyle.

The best bit of the new two-door C-class cabrio is its positioning. It’s aimed precisely at the gap between the A3 and A5 soft-tops, and open-air 1- and 3-series. Not just in price, but also in terms of size, accommodation, equipment and engine line-up.

Click ‘Next’ to read the full technical story on the new C-class cabrio

By Georg Kacher