Benz builds a baby S-Class

MERC’S FIFTH-GENERATION C-CLASS PLACES A NEW-FOUND EMPHASIS ON TECHNOLOGY AND COMFORT, DRAWING MORE THAN A LITTLE INSPIRATION FROM THE COMPANY’S FLAGSHIP

- JOHN CAREY

CONSERVATISM. CONFORMITY. Continuity. C words, fittingly, best describe the exterior design of the new C-Class. But look deeper and the fifth generation of Mercedes-Benz’s compact car reveals rearranged priorities.

Internal combustion and exterior design are less important than they once were. Bytes and batteries are now more crucial to creating the character and appeal of the company’s most important car.

For the past decade, the C-Class has been the biggest-selling model for the world’s oldest car maker, so this really is a momentous shift.

From the outside, the new C-Class has the blandly generic look Mercedes-Benz believes best suits its classic drivetrain layout; longitudinal engine up front, driving the rear wheels. It’s unmistakably a product from Stuttgart, and a member of the family that includes the larger E-Class and S-Class. For many customers this is perhaps enough, but it’s not a design strategy that aims to excite.

The interior, on the other hand, is thrill-packed. It’s elegant and simple, audaciously blending tradition and tech. Especially the driver’s display and the portrait-oriented central display, which are windows into the new C-Class’s digital soul. There’s a lot more than mere infotainment happening here. They are major channels of communication between machine and driver, enabling everything from car set-up to guidance and warnings from the car’s arsenal of advanced driver-assist systems.