SPY PICS: End of an era for E-Class Estate?

The local hunger for all things SUV means time could be up for the traditional Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon in Australia.

Instead, its place in the local line-up of the German luxury car manufacturer is expected to be taken by a jacked-up 'All-Terrain' wagon – not necessarily its real name – that has been confirmed by Benz as a Paris motor show unveil in September.

Spy shots of the all-wheel drive rival for Audi's A6 allroad are now proliferating on the web, as minimally disguised near-production examples are tested on public roads by Benz engineers.

motoring.com.au first reported Benz's plans for an E-Class wagon-based off-roader more than 12 months ago.

The all-new W213 sedan version of the new generation E-Class has just gone on-sale in Australia and boasts the latest in autonomous technology Benz can offer.

The S213 station wagon has also been unveiled, while the E-Class coupe and cabriolet should make their global debuts early in 2017 before going on sale here in the second half of 2017.

Initially Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific talked up the prospects of the S213 coming to Australia, but at last week's W213 launch, David McCarthy, the company's Senior Manager – Public Relations, Product and Corporate Communications, was downbeat about its prospects.

On our future model listing (see below), the estate is listed as a second half 2017 arrival along with the All-Terrain model. But it's very much an unconfirmed arrival.

"It's hard to make a case for an E-Class Estate," McCarthy admitted. "The All-Terrain has a lot of appeal.

"I'd feel pretty positive [about All-Terrain getting the nod for local sale ahead of E-Class], but we might take two we might take one, we haven't decided."

The E-Class Estate has been a constant in the range since first developed as part of the W123 range from the late 1970s. The 300D launched here in 1980 was the first Mercedes wagon ever sold in Australia.

The All-Terrain is expected to come with standard 4Matic all-wheel drive, height adjustable air suspension and a group of turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines that feature in other E-Class models.

While McCarthy says there are plenty of estate fans within M-B A/P's upper management, including CEO Horst van Sanden, small sales make the orthodox E-Class wagon difficult to justify as an ongoing model.

"The C-Class Estate does well," he said. "It's about 10 per cent of C sedan volume. E is probably a bit less than that.

"My personal view is the All-Terrain – or whatever it is called – will expand that.

"We are not talking about it going to a thousand [sales] per year, but I think you could do some more volume.

"There is a good opportunity and I would hazard a guess you would see more E-Class All-Terrains up in the snow than you would SUVs – as a percentage of what's sold."

Upcoming Mercedes-Benz models:

2016
SL facelift – Aug
SLC facelift – Aug
CLA facelift – Aug
S Cabriolet – September
GLC 43 AMG – October
C 43 AMG Coupe, Cabriolet, wagon, sedan – Nov
C 63 Cabriolet – Nov
AMG GT coupe – Dec
E 350 e – Dec

2017
E 43 AMG – Jan
GLC Coupe – Jan
E 63 AMG – Mid-year
AMG GT R - Mid-year
AMG GT Roadster – Mid-year
E-Class coupe and cabrio – Second half
E-Class All-Terrain – Second half
E-Class Estate – Second half
GLA facelift – Second half
S-class facelift – Second half