Mercedes defends E-Class' 'Russian Doll' design

Senior Mercedes-Benz executives admit the exterior styling of the new E-Class moves it closer to its smaller C-Class and larger S-Class sedan siblings, but remain confident that won’t create confusion in the minds of potential buyers - or affect sales.

The similarities between the new W213 E-Class and especially the current C-Class were common discussion points at this week’s Detroit motor show, with the dreaded ‘Russian doll’ term usually associated with Audi popping up in press reports.

Jim Holder, the editor of the respected British weekly Autocar wrote shortly after the car broke cover last Sunday night Detroit time:

"Personally I’m a little disappointed by the lack of imagination, and I wonder too if there is a long-term price to pay for it, both in the second-hand market and the long-term reputation of the brand."

Predictably, however, Mercedes-Benz chairman Dieter Zetsche defended accusations of a cookie-cutter design approach, which some pundits have likened to a nesting wooden babushka doll – or more correctly in Russian, matryoshka.

"The car looks exactly as it is supposed to look and I am very sure that our significant success -- higher than the one of our competitors -- is to quite some extent due to the design as well, which I consider extremely successful," he said.

"This is a very important car, the centre of gravity of our brand. I am sure we have never built a better E-Class than this one and on competitive terms I am very comfortable about this car as well so I believe we will see significant growth with this car."

The new fifth-generation E-Class reaches Australia around the middle of the year, as early as June or as late as August. You can read the technical and equipment details of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

In Australia, the E-Class is now a bit player in sales terms. But the two biggest markets in the world, China and the USA, still buy lots of large luxury sedans and the E-Class sells well there.

In China, Benz will roll out an extended-wheelbase version that will take it closer to S-Class size in April. At the other end of the spectrum the standard E-Class and the C-Class overlap more than ever, sharing the same architecture and -- eventually -- very similar drivetrain line-ups.

Even the AMG versions will share the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine, although the next E 63 is expected to have more power than the C 63.

But Benz’s global sales and marketing director Ola Kallenius said there was little evidence that S-Class limousine buyers would opt for an E to save money, or that E-Class buyers would drop down to the C for the same reason.

"If you are an E-Class person and buying in that segment you rarely if ever go down (to a C-Class)," he said.

"What you have more and that’s more a phenomenon of the last 10 years or so, is more movement between the vehicle types. So you could be driving an E-Class, the next one is a GLE or a GLE Coupe, then you could go into sports cars or something.

"But people tend to stick to their price-band if you will and get for them the most attractive offering in that price band."

Mercedes-Benz research and development boss Dr Thomas Weber was in no doubt the three saloons share "a clear design language", but were differentiated by price and size. He also argued the new generation of technology and equipment in the E-Class ensured its popularity and audience.

He argued the biggest sales issue the E-Class presented wasn’t one for Benz to deal with at all.

"I believe the bigger problem lies with our competitors when you compare the E-Class with their products."