It has not escaped the attention of Stuttgart that, in the recent past, we’ve been far from the biggest fans of Mercedes-Benz’s design direction. So hurrah for a car that we can finally get behind and sing the praises of.
The Concept Style Coupe is a thinly veiled preview of an upcoming four door coupe, which will slot into the Mercedes range below the C-Class.
So what’s to like? For a start, despite being front wheel drive (it’s based on the A-class platform), its proportions are good. Until now, only Audi’s managed to pull off convincingly premium proportions on front-wheel drive platforms. Secondly, while it’s still busy, the surface language on this car really works. There’s a lovely teardrop form in plan, which cleverly works with the side profile, where we get hints of the banana-like shoulder line of the original CLS.
Most importantly though, this car is supposedly 95 percent production ready. Only details will change when the production car (CLA?) arrives we’re told. But the critical bit is that this will slot in (and be priced) below the C-class. Which means that, if Mercedes manages to bring it to market with less compromise than has befallen the 5-door A-class, it could – yet again – give birth to a new and highly influential segment of C-car sized four door coupes. Watch this space.
By Joe Simpson
