DETROIT MOTOR SHOW: New Mercedes-Benz C-Class

It’s been repeatedly spied, teased, detailed and leaked, and now full official details and images of next year’s all-new Mercedes-Benz C-class have finally been released.

Significantly larger yet up to 100kg lighter and more efficient, the fourth generation of Mercedes’ volume-selling C-Class will make its global debut at the Detroit motor show in January, before going on sale in Australia around July.

The all-new W205-series mid-sizer not only moves one step closer in size to both the E-Class and new S-Class, it also follows the design and technology lead of the German luxury car-maker’s flagship sedan.

Based on an all-new steel platform and mostly aluminium body, the new C-Class is now closer in size to chief rivals like the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4 by measuring 4686mm long and 1810m wide, making it 95mm longer and 40mm wider than before.

At the same time, the new C-Class is distanced further upstream from the new CLA in terms of size via a 2840mm wheelbase – 80mm longer than the W204 it replaces – and the retention of its rear-wheel drive layout.

While the smaller, more coupe-like CLA sedan shares its front/all-wheel drive platform with the A-Class hatch and is priced from $49,900, the third-generation C-Class sedan starts at $59,900.

That could well increase with the 2014 C-Class, which gains a host of new safety, driver-assistance and infotainment technologies from the S-Class, as well as more luxury, more refinement, 25mm more rear legroom and larger boot – up five litres to 480.

The bigger new W205 sedan is also claimed to be the most aerodynamic car in its class with a 0.24Cd drag coefficient, while weight loss and other fuel saving measures are said to increase efficiency by an average of 20 per cent without any reduction in performance.

Mercedes says ride and handling is improved via a lower centre of gravity and increased body rigidity, thanks to the car’s new lightweight modular rear-drive platform known as Mercedes Rear-drive Architecture.

Fitted with new front wishbone suspension, new electro-mechanical steering and, for the first time, the option of self-levelling AIRMATIC air suspension, MRA will underpin all Mercedes models from the C-class upwards.

Unlike the outgoing C-Class, which has found more than 2.4 million homes globally and more than 40,000 in Australian since mid-2007, the W205 will be produced in cabriolet and hatchback body styles (the five-door in response to the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 3 Series GT) as well as replacements for the traditional sedan, wagon and coupe models.

The MRA platform will also form the basis of the second-generation GLK, which will be produced in right-hand form for the first time and goes on sale in Australia in 2015. The new C-Class, meantime, will be the first built in RHD guise with all-wheel drive, although 4MATIC versions are not yet confirmed Down Under.

New multimedia features of the new C-Class – which will be built in Europe, North America, South Africa and China – include an optional head-up display, Burmester sound system, internet connectivity and a wide range of apps.

Also inside the elegant, more youthful interior is a large (7.0- or 8.4-inch) free-standing colour centre monitor above a trio of round chromed air-vents, a large TFT colour instrument display and a three-spoke steering wheel with column-mounted gearshift ‘stalk’.

While that creates space on the centre console for a lidded storage compartment and central rotary controller (with optional touchpad) to operate the infotainment system, gone from the footwell is the model’s long-lambasted parking brake lever in favour of an electric device.

New driver aids include radar-based Distronic Plus cruise control as standard, plus camera-based Brake Assist Plus active vehicle and pedestrian avoidance, the new C-Class will also come with new front pelvis airbags and new window and side airbags for outboard rear occupants.

The local engine line-up is yet to be confirmed, but is likely to opened by Europe’s entry-level C 180, powered by a 115kW/250Nm turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that accelerates it to 100km/h in a claimed 8.2 seconds and offers average NEDC fuel consumption of just 5.0L/100km.

Next up is the C 200, with a 135kW/300Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four that takes it to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds and consumes 5.3L/100km, while the 125kW/400Nm 2.1-litre turbo-diesel powered C 220 BlueTEC hits 100km/h in 8.1 seconds and consumes a hybrid-like 4.0L/100km.

Both Europe’s standard six-speed manual and our standard seven-speed automatic transmission will come with fuel-saving idle-stop and regenerative braking functions, although Benz’s new nine-speed auto is expected to come with four more engine options by the end of next year.

They should include two turbo-petrol performance models – the 155kW/350Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder C 250 and the 235kW/480Nm 3.0-litre V6 C 400 – and two hybrids: the petrol-electric C 400 Plug-In Hybrid and the diesel-electric C 300 BlueTEC.

Naturally, topping the range eventually will be a replacement for the C 63 AMG, powered not by the lauded 6.2-litre V8 but Merc’s newer twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 with up to 360kW and 700Nm to rival the new BMW M3 and Audi RS 4.