CLC makes Benz entry target

Mercedes-Benz's most successful conquest model has been priced to maintain its attraction to first-time customers of the brand.

Worldwide the C-Class Sports Coupe earns Mercedes-Benz up to 70 per cent of new buyers, and around 40 per cent of those go on to purchase other models, according to the company.

"Conquest sales are where this car has succeeded," says Mercedes-Benz Australia's company spokesman David McCarthy. "Bringing people from other brands and other sections of the market."

Those buyers tend to be a younger set than the 50-somethings choosing other models -- even A and B-Class -- aged between 35 and 40, and 30 per cent are female.

The Sports Coupe also serves as an entry to the C-Class range, according to McCarthy, however the company does not expect much substitution from C owners as "coupe buyers tend to be coupe buyers".

Mercedes-Benz's local outfit has aimed for an "attractive price packaging philosophy" for the CLC. Both the entry model and the mid-spec Evolution start under the Luxury Car Tax, at $49,900 and $53,900 respectively.

Essentially a rework of the outgoing Sports Coupe introduced in 2001, the CLC has been introduced to lift Benz's small two-door to the level of the coupes higher in the family.

The CLC wears a more expressive exterior than the outgoing model, including wider radiator grille and air intake, updated front and tail lights and "diffuser look" for the rear -- styling cues borrowed from the CL Coupe, CLS and CLK, says Benz.

Interior-wise the Coupe gets new sports seats, a three-spoke multifunction steering wheel and climate control. The entry model comes with Artico (manufactured leather) trim and cloth, and the up-spec models are available with full Artico trim in a choice of colours.

The range-topping Evolution+, starting at $58,988 including LCT, comes with Benz's two-part sunroof as standard. The sliding roof is available as an option for the entry model and Evolution coupe.

The upper CLC models gain the company's Direct Steer feature, which is based on the speed-sensitive power steering system and offers assistance in cornering. More details of the CLC-Class range's equipment here.

According to the company, "pent-up demand" for the coupe as well as its ability to win new buyers meant using the current platform wasn't a concern.

"Volume considerations play a role and also capacity. The platform itself has always been well-regarded as a chassis. It is unusual for this to happen but the sales projections for the car are still quite strong," says McCarthy.

"In terms of using the [new] C-Class platform it would've required more changes to make a car of that size fit. Size-wise it's [the coupe] a fraction smaller.

"At various times in this car's history up to 70 per cent have been conquest buyers and that's very high; not just from our perspective but from an industry perspective and that's one reason to continue the car."

The CLC is offered "at this stage" with one engine option: the 1.8-litre four-cylinder Kompressor unit, rated at 135kW/250Nm. Revisions including uprated turbocharger and pistons have granted the extra power (15kW) and torque (10Nm) over the outgoing model's powerplant, according to Benz.

A diesel option is also under investigation, says McCarthy, however "relatively small volumes", the likelihood of an update of the 2.2-litre diesel engine and compliance for Australia's diesel fuel "create issues... but we're still plugging away," he says.

The CLC's positioning and the fact that the V6 engine offering in the outgoing model "wasn't a big seller" mean additional petrol engine options are unlikely for local buyers.

M-B Australia expects to sell around 100 CLCs a month, with most sales going to the entry model and mid-spec Evolution.

Visit the Carsales Network again for our local launch review of the Mercedes-Benz CLC Coupe.

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