The next-generation Mercedes-Benz C-Class has been spotted during a brief foray on public roads. Early reports suggest that the new car will be lighter and more fuel-efficient than its predecessor.
Spy photographers from auto motor und sport captured the car outside a Mercedes testing facility in Germany. Although clad in the plastic panel/bin bag camouflage one would expect of a test mule, it’s possible to make out a few of the design elements destined for the new car.
The roofline is more swept-back and the overhangs shorter than those of the outgoing car. The front appears to show a more upright grille in a similar vein to that of the facelifted E-Class and narrow headlamps featuring Mercedes’ now-signature drop line ‘eyebrow’ element that echoes the character lines running along the flanks. Speaking with auto motor und sport, Daimler development chief Thomas Weber suggested that the overall body style has been strongly influenced by the 2010 Mercedes-Benz F800 Style Concept.
The new car will reportedly utilize lightweight materials for both the bonnet and bootlid components as part of a raft of measures to reduce the range’s overall fuel efficiency by as much as 20 per cent.
The European engine line-up will feature uprated versions of existing C-Class powerplants, including a C220 CDI with 126 kW, a C250 CDI developing 152 kW and a C350 with 228 kW on tap. Compact four-cylinder turbodiesels co-developed with Renault are also on the cards, as is a hybrid powerplant and an AMG V8, possibly a slightly tuned version of the SLK55 AMG’s naturally aspirated unit.
Source: auto motor und sport
