Detroit motor show 2009: new Mercedes-Benz E-class
Mercedes chose Detroit to unveil its all-new E-class, although it wasn't actually at the show...
Undoubtedly the star of the show – and Merc even threw a party to celebrate the launch of the E-class. Trouble was, much of the world's press were remaking Planes, Trains And Automobiles in snowed-in airfields across the States, including some of Mercedes own guests... The biggest irony, however, was that Mercedes didn't actually show the E-class at the show, so Detroit's star car wasn't actually at the Detroit Auto Show.
The E-class is Mercedes-Benz's most profitable model and absolute heartland for the Stuttgart-based manufacturer. In Britain, where the high-end reputation of the three-pointed star is closely guarded, the E-class is a classy, boss-class motor, more usually seen carving its way through the hoi polloi, the hands at the wheel shirted courtesy of Turnbull and Asser, suited by James and James with timekeeping by Longines or similar.
That's not quite the case in the rest of Europe, however, where the E-class serves long years in taxi fleets and where diesel economy is preferable to petrol power. More than 1.5 million E-class models have been sold since 2001 and in total (including its predecessors) the range has sold about 12 million units since 1962, which makes it the word's most successful business car.
Not that Mercedes hasn't been touched by the recent financial downturn, but it is measure of the robust reputation of its saloon cars that in America, according to Wards Automotive, against an overall 36 per cent market fall, Mercedes sold more cars in December (12,940) than it did in January – that's a bankable performance in anyone's language. In the UK the company will target the fleet markets where sales appear to have held up, although pricing might be an issue as the car is sold to the UK in euros.
There is also the problem of the plummeting resale values of leased cars in recent months, which has left many individuals and firms in the position of negative equity in their cars. Many people have opted to hold on to their cars for another year in the hope that values increase. Wilfried Steffen, CEO of Mercedes-Benz UK, reckons they might be making a wise decision and thinks the used markets have over-reacted to the recession. "Retailers over-reacted when the market fell last year and reduced their used-car stocks at low prices," he says. "It's going to take a couple of months for prices to build, but hopefully the worst is behind us."
The new E is an impressive if boxy looking car, although the roofline and the rear quarters are elegant. Apart from being stronger and stiffer, the main feature of the new E-class are impressive economy improvements across the range thanks to class-leading aerodynamics, new Euro V emission-compliant diesel engines with stop/start system on the E200 model and energy saving control of engine ancillaries, and low-rolling resistance tyres.
The coefficient of drag is just 0.25, and the ultra-low bonnet has a pedestrian crash mitigation system that uses springs to raise the bonnet to provide a deformable space in the event of a collision. "It's a big step forward and the bonnet system means it wasn't the pedestrian-unfriendly monster that we all feared it might be," said Professor Herbert Kohler, head of Daimler Group research.
The headline figures are up to 53.3mpg on the EU Combined fuel consumption cycle and CO2 emissions of just 139g/km. That amounts to a fuel-saving of 23 per cent over the previous model - and the four-cylinder E220 CDI and E200 CDI engines responsible for these savings are all-new designs.
Much of the technology from the flagship S-class saloon model has migrated down to the smaller E-class, with the option of night vision, radar-assisted brake mitigation and intelligent headlamp dipping as optional extras.
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