CLK parked, new Benz two-door is E-Class

Mercedes-Benz is set to 'park' its CLK nameplate and revive two-door variants of its all-new E-Class. The new E two-doors will be available as both coupe and soft-top convertible models.

It's almost certain that the new E-Class sedan and fixed-head coupe models will debut alongside each other at next March's Geneva salon. And it seems Mercedes will 'save' the soft-top for the New York motor show approximately one month later.

According to European sources, the decision to rest the CLK badge and repackage the new two-doors as E-Class models was reportedly only finalized in recent months. Mercedes telegraphed the decision in a most public way, via the E-Class based CoupeFASCINATION concept car displayed at the Paris show last week.

As noted in our Paris Show report (more here), save for some extra fluting and lighting details, CoupeFASCINATION aired the new four-lamp asymmetric look of the new W212 E-Class. We can now report, the front half of the two-door shooting brake -- from the front bumper through to end of the door, where a B-pillar would normally be sited in the pillarless design -- is pure E-Class coupe.

Though the roof line will obviously change for the sedan and coupe, the pumped rear haunches of the concept car will be retained by both the coupe and sedan versions of the E-Class, say insiders. The coupe and soft-top also sit on shorter wheelbases than the sedan's.

It's unclear from the story so far as to which underpinnings will form the basis for the new two-doors. Previous CLK models were C-Class based. Already photographed by spy photographers in finished but camouflaged form (pictured), the new car was almost certainly based on the new E-Class from day one. 

The decision helps Benz separate the new larger two-door from BMW's 3 Series coupe and CC. Mercedes is likely to reprise the CLK badge within two to three years, in a smaller, lighter coupe that will replace the CLC and go head-to-head with the BMW. It also clears the way for a true M3 rival in a future sportier generation of CLK.

The new E-Class cabriolet will eschew the move to folding hardtops and feature an electrically-operated soft-top. Benz says its customer research says E/CLK-Class buyers are much less likely to park their cars on the street than midsized coupe and sedan buyers. They prefer the extra luggage and cabin space a folding hardtop can yield over any perceived security improvements, says Mercedes.

Mercedes will offer a full range of four, six and eight-cylinder engines in the new E, including the new 500Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel. It has been speculated that the new series will herald the arrival of the company's direct-injected V6 petrol engine Down Under.

A stonking 400kW 6.2-litre V8 AMG version of the E-Class sedan will be the range-topper. But in the four door only!

Alas, according to US-based Benz sources, the two-door E range will not include full-spec AMG models. It's understood Mercedes USA killed any hope of a hot E-Class two-door when it declined to add the model to its local line-up. Around half of AMG's total volume is sold in the US market alone.

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