2015 Mercedes C-Class Revealed: Baby Benz Grows Up

The German company's designers chose to get rid of all the straight lines of the old W204 C-Class, replacing them with elegant, flowing ones. The front end see a new type of grille design, protruding outward more than before. The headlights flank this with a new LED design that is subtle and has more than a passign resemblance to the W222 S-Class, Mercedes' flagship.

Arriving in the middle of the most competitive premium segment, the W205 C-Class provides elegance and refinement as its main attribute. Buyers will have a tough time choosing anything else, since Mercedes has fitted the first air suspension option in this class, LED headlights airbags for your pelvis and the finest interior known to a middle management executive.

Riding on a brand new platform that helps it shed weight and improve efficiency, the new C-Class will be sold with two engines in the US: C 300 4Matic with a 235 hp 2-liter turbo and C 400 4Matic with a 329 3-liter turbo, both fitted with all-wheel drive and seven-speed automatic. Over in Europe, the lineup looks completely different. The base model is the C 180 petrol, a 1.6-liter turbo providing 156 S and and 250 Nm (184 lb ft) of torque. There's also a C 200 model powered by a 2-liter turbo rated at 184 PS and 300 Nm (221 lb ft) of torque. Both are fitted as standard with a new six-speed manual gearbox, with a 7G-Tronic option available on the higher spec car. The only diesel is the familiar 2.1-liter available on the C 220 BlueTec. This produces 170 PS and 400 Nm (295 lb ft) of torque. It's the most efficient of the bunch and is rated at 4 l/100km combined.

A number of systems from the S-Class have also trickled down into the new C-Class sedan. Thise include Attention Assist, Adaptive Brake Assist, Collision Prevention Assist Plus, Distronic Plus with Steering Assist, Brake Assist System Plus and Enhanced Active Lane Keeping Assist, to name but a few.