Mercedes has launched the latest third generation C Class in India within 9 months of its global debut. The new C class replaces the earlier generation model, which had been around for the last seven years and was looking ancient as compared to the new BMW 3 series. Now Mercedes will seriously compete with BMW in this segment with a bigger, roomier and better equiped C class. IndiBlog had posted an article on the new C Class in November 2007: Mercedes C Class Reloaded. The new C Class is longer and wider than before which translates into more interior space meaning tall rear passengers dont need to sit with their knees upto their chins and three adults can be accomodated into the rear as well.

The new C has sharper, more youthful styling meant to attract young and loaded executive who were till now blindly opting for the BMW 3 series. Muscular flared wheel arches, sharp headlamps and grille and twin exhausts look cool. Interiors have been spruced up with silver coloured bezels, black dial faces, white markings and glowing orange needles combining form with function.

Mercedes has chosen to launch the new C Class with essentially the same supercharged petrol and diesel engines that the predecessor had, but both the engines have been tuned to better tackle the competition. The C 200 Kompressor develops 20 bhp more than before producing 178 bhp with 240 Nm of torque at 3500 rpm. This however only improves the 200K’s 0-100 kmph time by half a second! Thats outright boring. As for the diesel version, the C 220 CDI now develops a peak output of 170 bhp (previously 141 bhp), and generates a torque of 410 Nm at 2000 rpm.

Keeping with Mercedes tradition of making the safest cars in the world the new C Class comes with the very latest protection systems including six airbags as standard equipment. Two adaptive airbags for the driver and front passenger, two ‘sidebags’ in the front seat backrests and two large ‘windowbags’ which extend from the A to the C-pillar and protect occupants during a side impact. The standard head restraints operate on the ‘Neck Pro’ principle, which means that during a rear-end collision the padded surfaces are pushed forward within milliseconds to support the heads of the driver and front passenger and prevent whiplash. PRE SAFE, which was launched only in the S Class is now being offered with the new C Class. This optional preventive occupant protection system is linked to the other active safety systems such as ESP (electronic stability program) and Brake Assist, and is able to recognise critical driving manoeuvres at a very early stage. If the car is in danger of crashing as a result of heavy under- or over-steer, or if the driver needs to brake very heavily in a dangerous situation, PRE-SAFE activates certain systems as a precaution to prepare the vehicle and its occupants for an impending accident. Accordingly, the passive safety phase does not begin when the impact has already occurred, but before an impending collision.

The new C Class’s prices start from about Rs 25 lakh for the petrol and about Rs 28 lakh for the 220 CDI diesel. For what you get as a package, the price seems to be right on.