Mercedes' face-lifted 2012 C-Class recently made its official appearance, and now we have all the nitty-gritty for you. Set to arrive Stateside next summer, the exterior gets a few tweaks (available LED lights, new creases, etc.) to stay in-line with the Benz family, while inside we get a redesigned dashboard.
Other than the dash, the interior wears metallic trim on some controls and a new gauge cluster and steering wheel. As with the outgoing model, the car will be available in Sport and Luxury trim, with a slew of options tailored to suit various consumers. C250 Sport and C300 4MATIC Sport models have brushed aluminum trim, the C350 Sport gets Black Ash, and any of the Luxury models receive Burl Walnut wood.
The big news for the 2012 C-Class concerns its available power trains. Mercedes says the car's fuel economy has improved by 15% (on some models) thanks to direct injection and a newer, greener 7-speed automatic gearbox.
For people who wanted a regular [non-AMG] C-Class putting out over 300 ponies, your car has finally arrived: thanks to the aforementioned direct injection (aka BlueDIRECT), the C350 Sport makes 302 horsepower / 273 lb-ft of torque; that's a 34 horsepower / 15 lb-ft boost, while fuel economy has been improved by 5%. American consumers will also get a new-ish direct-injected turbocharged 4-cylinder engine returning a combined 24 MPG.
Electrical nannies? You'll bet. We've got ATTENTION ASSIST, Adaptive Highbeam Assist, Park Assist w/ PARKTRONIC, Lane Keeping Assist, and Blind Spot Assist.
Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Mercedes Cars Executive VP of Sales & Marketing, says, "In terms of driveline and safety systems, the new-generation C-Class offers the comfort and safety of our luxury vehicles - and with many high-end details in the interior evocative of the new CLS, the new C-Class sets completely new benchmarks in its segment when it comes to premium look-and-feel."
By Phil Alex
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