I understand in United States, the launch W205 will be 4Matic only!

What??

A car like this, unless your weather requires it, is much more fun in RWD. What's the store behind this? Do you think RWD will ever come?

I hope Mercedes isn't getting away from RWD in favor of 4Matic in all the vehicles.

 

I don't like the fact that in US, the cars will be 4Matic at launch. Will RWD ever come out later? 4Matic takes take kick from the rear end fun out of driving.

 

I'll probably wait for a facelift version of this W205 before I think of purchasing one. That iPad style navigation needs to go or be more integrated with the dash design. This car is beautiful and as all Mercs will drive nice but the details matter as much as the main features of the car. Also, will the quality coming out of Alabama be as good as one from Germany or South Africa? My neighbor has an ML350 and R350 both from Alabama and both are holding up no better than some of America's worst from a decade ago. Are these still going to be made in SA? I'd prefer one from there.

 

dashboard and taillights

 

+1 well said sportstick!!

 

You & I are in synch

 

 

Haven't seen this link on this thread yet, here's straight from MB. Love this one way better than the w204.

http://www5.mercedes-benz.com/en/veh...o-alternative/

 

OK....time to move on to which is better.....chocolate or vanilla?

 

is it just me or does the luxury model look better? lol

 

When I first saw pictures of the new 2014 S Class I asked myself two questions regarding styling ~ namely ~ have they made the pretty Benz traditional grill too large & do the tail lights work.

When I saw the car in the flesh & test drove the S500 & S400 Hybrid I decided they did & very well. Wait until you see it physically.

 

It's not just you. I'll bet that will be the majority reaction on global markets & especially Benz' most important market ~ Asia.

 

It's certainly a more cohesive exercise. The design language of the entire car is just asking to be a luxury model and that one does work and eliminates my tail lamp concern for that buyer. (The nav screen remains disconcerting, however). I also agree with Glyn that these need to be seen in person. I find it hard to believe that Luxury grille is not suffering from a wide angle lens in some of the press materials.

I realize the US is not the primary market, but with about a 90-10 Sport/Lux mix here, I think the car will run into some buyer confusion/remorse. Too many who would prefer the Lux will drive away with a Sport, simply because it's in inventory, unless MBUSA reassesses their production order mix.

 

Anyone know of an admin that can open up a W205 section?

 

We intend a W205 section now!

 

I love it. Can't wait to see the new C63. I can't find any flaws in the design its dramatically better in every way to the W204 which I've never really cared for. About the only thing I might not like is the Nav screen but not enough to keep me from buying one. It could have been worse like the pop up from the pre facelift W204.

 

Not too fussed on the redesign...really nothing sporty about it. Looks like the W205 will compete more with the likes of Lexus, certainly not the BMW 3 series.

 

Exterior is a big hit - in fact, its going to cut into E class sales.

But that nav screen - that "stuck on" look with no dash integration, I hate it.

 

As with the W204 I prefer all the exterior styling cues (and the ride height) of the Sport save the grille, though I'm not sure I'm sold on the Sport's CLA-like rear fender vents. It doesn't appear that grille swapping will be as easily done on the 205 as on the 204 as the grille surround is incorporated into the front fascia.

I'm only 11 days into the W204 ownership experience as of this post, so it's far too early for me to say that I'll be replacing my car with a late-lifecycle W205.

 

I'm curious what the sales mix is in the US for 4matic versus RWD. Is it as great as the ratio between sport versus luxury lines? I'm scratching my head trying to understand why the USA appears to be the only big sales territory which is launching with AWD as standard and where RWD isn't even an option. I find it hard to believe historic sales for the C-Class favors AWD over RWD but don't know what the sales figures are so maybe I'm wrong and most people do in fact buy the C-Class with AWD.

The one thing Mercedes achieves by launching AWD-only in the USA is that it makes the product segmentation between the C-Class and the CLA that much starker since the price gap will be bigger.

 

I don't know those numbers, but consider that they are working a launch strategy at the plant. I'm quite certain the product development is complete by now. The plant powertrain complexity is the greatest challenge, so let's assume they decided the optimal path was to launch with one drive configuration. In order to optimize volume, they need the path of least sales resistance. In the north, rwd is largely unsaleable, except to the enthusiasts (like me, and possibly you) who they are walking away from with this product in any event (IMHO). My local dealer in Michigan has 100% 4MATIC C Class inventory.

While the demand for 4MATIC in the south may be less, we certainly know of all wheel drive vehicles which sell in all areas....I think Audi Quattro has shown that. So, the highest volume approach while the plant is ramping up is to start with 4MATIC and bring on rwd later, rather than the reverse. In a perfect world, they would feel confident and ready to launch all combinations on day 1, but those of us who worked in this industry realize the folly of attempting that, especially with a new plant (for the C Class) building a new car (W205).

 

Is it true that the C350 is a twin turbo this time around?

 

I take your point but does 4matic sell everwhere? Out here in Los Angeles, AWD is scarce and dealer stock is overwhelming RWD. I just looked at the internet inventory of the dealers in downtown LA and Beverly Hills - obviously imprecise but still useful to get a rough idea - and collectively they had two AWD C-Class sedans on the lot versus 300+ RWD cars. I can't imagine SoCal dealers are happy about the AWD-only launch and having to wait 6+ months before RWD becomes available (Autoweek's report says RWD becomes available in March 2015). And I gotta think the West Coast is a large portion of Mercedes USA sales.

Too bad you can't do a European delivery order since they go on sale soon over there.

 

C400 is the Twin Turbo. This is for Europe & ROW.

US nomenclature might be different.


C 180 BlueTec: Renault-based, 1.6-liter turbodiesel with 115 hp and 280 Nm (207 lb ft) of torque, arrives in September 2014;
C 200 BlueTec: Renault-based, 1.6-liter turbodiesel with 136 hp and 320 Nm (236 lb ft) of torque, arrives in September 2014;
C 220 BlueTec: 2.1-liter turbodiesel with 170 hp and 400 Nm (295 lb ft) of torque, available from March 2014;
C 220 BlueTec BlueEfficiency Edition: 2.1-liter turbodiesel with 170 hp and 400 Nm (295 lb ft) of torque, arrives in June 2014;
C 250 BlueTec: 2.1-liter twin-turbodiesel with 204 hp and 500 Nm (369 lb ft) of torque, arrives in June 2014;
C 300 BlueTec Hybrid: 2.1-liter twin-turbodiesel with 204 hp and 500 Nm (369 lb ft) of torque plus a 27 hp electric motor, arrives in June 2014;
C 180: 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with 156 hp and 250 Nm (184 lb ft) of torque, available from March 2014;
C 180 BlueEfficiency Edition: 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with 156 hp and 250 Nm (184 lb ft) of torque, arrives in June 2014;
C 200: 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with 184 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb ft) of torque, available from March 2014;
C 250: 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with 211 hp and 350 Nm (258 lb ft) of torque, could get 9G-Tronic instead of 7G-Tronic from the beginning, arrives in June 2014;
C 300: 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with 238 hp and 370 Nm (273 lb ft) of torque, arrives in June 2014;
C 400 Plug-in Hybrid: 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with 238 hp and 370 Nm (273 lb ft) of torque plus a 68 hp electric motor, arrives in 2015;
C 400: 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 with 333 hp and 480 Nm (354 lb ft) of torque, arrives in September 2014;
C 63 AMG: 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with 460-485 hp and 650-700 Nm (479-516 lb ft) of torque, arrives in October 2014;