It may be broadly the same vehicle, but the Mercedes-Benz C-Class saloon car has certainly changed in terms of its environmental performance.
The 2012 version of the car will lower fuel consumption by as much as 31 per cent thanks to efficiency enhancing measures including new engines, an improved seven-speed automatic transmission, an ECO start/stop function and gear ratios optimised for fuel economy.
All the rear-wheel drive C-Class models will come with ECO start/stop as standard with all variants also classed as BlueEFFICIENCY units to show they are particularly environmentally friendly.
The most economical model, the C220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with manual six-speed transmission has mean fuel consumption of 53mpg – that’s 0.4litres less than before. This is the equivalent of 117g/km of CO2. Indeed the C220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and C250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY both deliver combined diesel consumption of 49mpg with CO2 emissions at 125g/km.
All of the petrol engines have improved too, each featuring direct injection. The introduction of a V6 petrol model in the C350 BlueEFFICIENCY is also among the highlights as it includes the BlueDIRECT process which combines a third generation direct injection with spray guided consumption and piezo injectors. Its power has also increased significantly to 370Nm compared to 365Nm and there is mean fuel consumption of 35mpg – that’s 31 per cent less than the preceding C350 model.
Currently, the C-Class is the most popular model in the Mercedes-Benz range with global sales of more than one million units since its launch in March, 2007. The latest version is set to be introduced in Europe in March, with ordering beginning in January, and in the US during the summer of 2011.
