With a sketch and a teaser video (below), Mercedes-Benz has given us a hint of what the next-gen. E-Class will look like.
Based on the disguised prototypes that have been spotted, this sketch depicts something overtly sporty and muscular that features a swooping roofline and deep side-creases that give it a distinct CLS-esque, four-door coupe profile. The actual car will be something a little more sober while still adopting the current Merc sedan styling first seen on the S-Class and continued so successfully on the C-Class.
As this latest embodiment of Merc’s “Sensual Purity” design language, the Stuttgart firm describes it as “emotional design” that will be combined with “intelligent high-tech”. Talking at Los Angeles show in November, Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener described the new E-Class as “much more beautiful and modern” than that of the current car and “much cleaner than even the C- and S-Class.”
Codenamed W213, it will be based on the modular MRA platform – the same one used for both the C- and S-Class – and the new car will be both bigger and lighter than its predecessor.
The E-Class will also feature a new generation of four-cylinder diesel engines alongside existing four-cylinder petrol units. This new diesel (in two states of tune) features the latest in piezo-guided direct injection and will also be used across Merc’s line-up from the A-Class to the S-Class.
There will also be a new generation of 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesels that will join the line-up in 2016 and a six-cylinder petrol is also rumoured to be in the pipeline. A E350e plug-in hybrid, with a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine and an electric motor, will join the range as well – most likely in early 2017. And later next year, expect too a new E63 AMG with a reworked version of the 4,0-litre twin-turbo V8.
There’s also an all-new interior design that features two 12.3-inch displays housed within a single unit (read more about that here).
Mercedes-Benz has also just released a short video that focuses on the headlight tech, but gives a quick glimpse of the front-end styling too.
