ChRiSTiNE83

I've seen some posts here that talk about a forthcoming E-Coupe and now I'm curious as to if this is true or not...

I think it would be great to have an E Coupe in the Mercedes lineup... but somehow I think some people on this board are getting their hopes up for nothing.

What do you guys think?

mbtech208

I think it's just a pipe-dream. The gap between the CL coupe and the CLK is too narrow, an E-class coupe would be more detrimental to the other cars than good. Not to mention the market for coupes has been slowing down in the past few years. The CLK is really the closest thing there is to an E-class coupe. It's actually bigger than the last E-class coupe, the '95 E320.

Silver_Lana

I agree with this comment.
It seems very unlikely that MB will introduce an E coupe in a very soft market after investing so much in a new E Class... which my the way, like most other new MB vehicles, looks like a couple... just with 4 doors.

oresama99

i think there is strong potential for the E-coupe to become a reality. reasons being:
1) 209 clk seems to be moving slightly down market in an effort to distance itself from the new E. the 208 and 210 were practically on par with each other, the 210 being slightly above, but from discussions on the 211 and 209 board it looks like merc is separating the two. the E-coupe would fill this void.
2) IMO the gap between the current clk and cl is wide enough. if you use the gap between the E-class and S-class as a comparison you will see that E and S are closer to each other than the CLK and CL. E55 runs 72K and S55 runs 100K (approx base) compare to CLK55 runs 70K and CL55 runs 105K. the gap between C's runs wider, albeit, not much. and if they are indeed moving the 209 down, the gap will widen.
3) beemer looks to be coming out with the 6 series. i don't think the 209 clk looks to compete with the 6 series if they do indeed move it down market. the E-coupe will have to take it's place.

i guess my wishes/argument for the e-coupe to become a reality depend on whether they move the 209 clk down from the 208 market positioning. i know pricing is out for the 209 but i don't know how it compares to 208 pricing. also, the 209clk55 isn't getting the supercharged v8 like the e55. i don't know, it just seems like the new clk won't have the same positioning as the old one. i would just really like to see that e-coupe become reality, that's all!

E55 KEV

oresama99, great reasoning.

With the advent of the W209 CLK being more down market it will be more of a competitor to the BMW 3-Series line-up. I speculate that the price of the W209 CLK models will drop closer to the levels of 3-Series coupes and M3. Too much price gap between the M3 and CLK55 to be really competitive, especially when you compare the price of the convertibles.

oresama99

on the 209 board jff2K posted that the 209 clk320 sells for $USD 34k over in germany (was it?). i realize there are currency translations at work but that price seems to be indicative of the new clk competing against the likes of the 3-series coupe(as you stated kev). let's hope that the E-coupe makes it out and that the 6-series avoids bmw's latest design oddities; the more the choice the better!

Silver_Lana

Very convincing argument... and I for one wouldnt mind an E coupe... however i just dont think it will happen... at least not now. I hope i am wrong though... i could always use another car to lust after.

JamE55

Agree with mbtech208 on this one. CLK coupe and E-class coupe??

E55 KEV

From a marketing standpoint - The E-Coupe should probably sell more than the CLK. The CLK does not sell a lot anyway and the E-chassis has always been Mercedes bread and butter line. The mid size models keep Mercedes in the profits and the 3-Series is the main model for BMW.

Competition is what drives the market. If BMW makes a mid-size coupe based on the 5-Series chassis it will be built - Guaranteed!

northbenz

If the CLK coupe fails to catch on because it fails to distinguish itself from its other C Class competitors which give better value for the buck, then an E Class coupe stands to fill the void. However, the argument would then be made that investing heavilly in another coupe might be risky given the lack of success of the CLK coupe. Ergo - a catch 22 situation.

My solution is for Mercedes to minimize production of the CLK class coupe now and instead both ramp up production of the sure-winner CLK class cabriolet and get the E Class coupe off the drawing board and into the showroom ASAP. Mercedes never did meet the demand for its current version of the CLK cabriolet and if it adds the folding hardtop to the new version CLK Cabriolet there would hardly remain a need for the coupe version anyway.

oresama99

i have read that the clk was in fact quite a success in that it attracted a large number of new mercedes owners to it's particular market niche; CAR magazine states that 40% of clk owners were first time mercedes owners.
the clk doesn't have the same level of production numbers as the e-class but it did have a consistently long waiting list for new cars in the us and europe and healthy volume for it's market segment.