Mercedes C-Class Coupe: Official

Mercedes C-Class Coupe - Officially revealed

Mercedes finally rolls out official info on the 2011 / 2012 Mercedes C-Class Coupe which debuts at the Geneva Motor Show.

Actually, it’s taken longer than we thought for the Mercedes C-Class Coupe to become officially official.

We thought Mercedes were going to take the C-Class Coupe along to the Detroit Motor Show at the start of January, especially after we had a leaked photo of the C-Class Coupe a few days before the show. But no. No Mercedes C-Class Coupe at Detroit.

So it was going to be the Geneva Motor Show for the baby Mercedes Coupe, which adds a third body style to the recently revamped 2011 Mercedes C-Class. Last week we had a photo leak, but as we’d already published a leaked photo  at the start of the year we didn’t see any point running another.

But now Mercedes has done the official reveal, ahead of the C-Class Coupe’s official debut at the Geneva Motor Show in a couple of weeks. And it’s not exactly a surprise – it’s very much a coupe version of the C-Class Saloon.

The nose is the same on the Coupe as the saloon. Perhaps that’s a bit disappointing, but it’s what you get when you graft a grill that looks like it comes from a ‘Sport’ Mercedes on a Mercedes Saloon. It means you can no longer differentiate the Coupe in the way you could, for example, with the SLC or SEC.

No matter, the front end of the C-Class looks good, and so does the coupe. From the nose the eye flows to a rakish C-Pillar giving a classic coupe profile. It looks refined and very Mercedes Coupe. It also looks quite purposeful, thanks in no small part to the standard 18″ alloys.

Interior is a straight nick from the C-Class Saloon, but that is very good after the recent revamp. It also looks like the C-Class Coupe gets the steering wheel from the CLS, complete with chrome spoke.

Engines on offer at launch (the C63 AMG Coupe will come later) are a choice of three petrols and two diesels (details below), kicking off with the 1.8 litre four-pots in the C180 Coupe and C250 Coupe and topping out at the C350 Coupe with a V6. And all get badged with BlueEfficiency. This is 2011.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Mercedes pitch the C-Class Coupe, and how much they charge. Under the skin, it’s the now four years old W204 – as is the very good Mercedes E-Class Coupe. If Mercedes pitches the C-Class Coupe much below the E-Class Coupe, who will buy the E-Class? And, conversely, the opposite applies.

Should be interesting to watch.

Mercedes C-Class Coupe Photo Gallery

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The Engine range Mercedes C-Class Coupé

BE = BlueEFFICIENCY, * figures for automatic transmission, manual transmission in bracket