Currently reading: Merc C-class coupe confirmed
Bremen plant to build new car from 2011

The Mercedes C-class coupe has been confirmed for the first time.

Mercedes made the announcement while outlining plans to extend production at its Bremen plant, which will build the C-class aloon, estate, coupe and GLK from 2011.

The Mercedes C-class coupe will take the place of the CLC, and go on sale in 2011.

The C-Class coupe will be the second two-door based on the existing C-class, but the first to take its name into production.

Set to go on sale in the UK at the same time that facelifted versions of the existing saloon and estate reach showrooms in early 2011, the new C-class coupe has been conceived to replace the CLK, discontinued earlier this year after 12 years and two model generations.

The introduction of the C-Class coupe also spells the end for the CLC, a small sports hatch that was only recently updated. Sources indicated the model will be phased out and will be replaced by the new coupe.

The forthcoming two-door eschews a unique body shell and individual styling that made the CLK such a success for a comparatively upright look that draws heavily on the silhouette and detailing of its four-door siblings.

“We went back and studied what made our coupes so popular in the past. If you look at some of the more successful two-door models Mercedes-Benz has produced, you can see a direct relationship between them and their four-door stablemates,” said an insider describing the new coupe’s appearance.

Don’t expect the new Mercedes-Benz to have a very long life, though. With engineering of the fourth-generation C-class already under way at the German car maker’s R&D centre near Stuttgart, the new two-door is planned to be sold for a maximum of four years. It will then be replaced by a much more curvaceous model that’s likely to follow the example of the CLS in boasting a more practical four-door layout.

The upcoming C-class coupe will be the second two-door model to be based on today’s C-class. Unlike the E-class coupe, however, the C-class version will not be modified and offered in cabriolet guise.

“We did look at an open-top version but in the end the costs were too high given the short model life,” revealed Autocar’s source.

Greg Kable

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J400uk 31 March 2010

Re: Merc C-class coupe confirmed

blowerbentley wrote:
Autocar wrote:
The C-Class coupe will be the second two-door based on the existing C-class but the first to take its name into production.
So, what's the other one then? Bearing in mind that the CLC is based on the previous generation C-class.

The current E-Class coupe is based on the current C-Class platform...

drivenfromthere... 31 March 2010

Re: Merc C-class coupe confirmed

Jon Hardcastle wrote:

What's an aloon?

Ask Kristen Hersh. Her of Throwing Muses fame:

A loon;

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2306189

blowerbentley 31 March 2010

Re: Merc C-class coupe confirmed

Autocar wrote:
The C-Class coupe will be the second two-door based on the existing C-class but the first to take its name into production.
So, what's the other one then? Bearing in mind that the CLC is based on the previous generation C-class.