carindia.in

• Prev
• 1 of 9
• Next

The C-Class is where most people begin their relationship with Mercedes-Benz. in india this is the most affordable and compact sedan on offer from the renowned company, making it the preferred car of most first-time seeker of the premium badge. It is difficult to express in words the emotions that one experiences sitting behind the three-pointed star. The company skilfully blends its 125 years of engineering expertise and some clever marketing to make the pleasure of owning and driving a Mercedes unique. So much so, that they have succeeded in making mundane jobs seem better and interesting.

as the indian economy and spending power grows, more luxury car-makers are joining the bandwagon. sighting the growing competition in the ‘affordable’ premium segment, Mercedes-Benz have given the C-Class a much-needed facelift along with a few essential engineering changes. According to the company’s plan, the 2011 ‘C’ has to keep the momentum going at least until 2013, when an all-new C-Class will make its global appearance.

Thanks to our pals in Mercedes India we got a short spin in the new C-Class almost a month before its scheduled India launch and, in typical Car India fashion, we managed to squeeze out a complete road test. Although the German company has not officially released the technical specifications of the Indian version, here’s what we observed during our short stint with the ‘C’.

This is a mid-life cosmetic polish-up and not a complete make-over, so don’t expect the car to grow in size, which is seen in most complete model changes. There’s a new front bumper, which resembles the bigger E-Class around the snout and it also has a more prominent grille surround with the air intakes re-contoured. It loses the conventional fog-lamps, which are replaced with a set of snazzy new line of LED lights. The reshaped car is more blithe and the company claims a drag coefficient of just 0.26. The 2012 version gets a new treatment for the headlamps, which are longer and flared towards the ends, hinting at inspiration from the styling of the elder sibling, CLS. The lamps now come with Bi-xenon lights with LED turn indicators. The rear design gets a tweak as well and the tail-lights continue the LED bling.