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The Mercedes CLK name could be set to return in 2011, this time based on the Mercedes C-class saloon.

According to reports in a French car magazine, the new CLK will fill the gap between the new E-class coupe (which is significantly larger than the old second-generation CLK) and the ageing CLC coupe.

The new Mercedes CLK will be aimed squarely at the lower end of the BMW 3-series coupe range. Aside from losing the rear pair of doors and roughly 100mm in length, the new CLK will be ...Read the full article

Autocar:

According to reports in a French car magazine, the new CLK will fill the gap between the new E-class coupe (which is significantly larger than the old second-generation CLK) and the ageing CLC coupe.

Wasn't the CLC only launched last year?! How can it be ageing?

The CLC is an updated version of the C-Class Coupe which was based on the previous generation C-Class.  Hence it could be seen as ageing (if it is then so am I!)

I read that the E-Class coupe is based on the current C-Class platform so how can the new CLK be based on the same car?

Mini1:

Wasn't the CLC only launched last year?! How can it be ageing?

You're right it was only launched last year, but the CLC is just a rebodied C class coupe. Its off the pace dynamically, the interior quality is below bar, the styling is bland and the diesels in particular are old. Merc should be ashamed of the CLC, but I see quite a few on the road, so they must have got something right. (Perhaps the badge on the bonnet?)

As for the CLK, I hope Merc make the styling different to the saloon even if the mechanicals are the same. They need to avoid the BMW trap of just chopping out a couple of doors and calling it a coupe.

Autocar:

The Mercedes CLK name could be set to return in 2011, this time based on the Mercedes C-class saloon.

and the old CLK was based on what....?

The new e-class coupe is already based on the c-class, weird that someone wants another coupe based on the c-class. Maybe they´ll bring another coupe out based on the a-class plattform and called c-class coupe. Mercedes has totally lost its way.

VelSatis23:

The new e-class coupe is already based on the c-class

I thought the new E-Class coupe was (as its name suggests) based on the E-Class?

If we see a CLK surely it should be a replacement for the rather dreadful CLC, rather than an in-between model.

Nope, the e-class coupe is just like the clk based on the c-class, I thought otherwise too, but the German car magazines all state, that the e-class coupe shares at least 60% of its parts with the c-class, suspension and so on. That´s why you can´t order the air suspension of the e-class in the coupe or other high tech goodies. Like I said, Mercedes really has lost its way.

When the E-Class Coupe was launched i assumed Merc had simply re-entered the exec coupe class, which it was last in with the W124 coupe, and abandoned the mid-size coupe when the CLK was dropped after only 2 generations.

But if the E-Class coupe is based on the C-Class, then all Merc has done is rename its 3-Series Coupe rival! And with the old C-Class Sports Coupe facelifted and rebranded as the CLC it appears Merc has 2 mid-size coupes. Or make that 3 if a new CLK appears! Confusing or what!

Agreed. The E-Class Coupe is priced square on at the 3-Series Coupe & A5 and there are cheaper 4cyl versions yet to come. Surely this will bring the entry level price of the range down to around £28k?

So what exactly will the competition for this new CLK be...

1-Series Coupe? TT? Im confused too.