Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon photos

The latest E-Class sedan and coupe are already on the road, the go-fast E63 AMG is confirmed for later in the year, and now comes the station wagon. There will also be an E-Class cabriolet, which should land in the first quarter of 2010 at almost the same time as the E-Class Estate revealed this week.

First pictures of the wagon show very little change from the sedan, apart from the obvious stuff around the tail. Still, the car is smoother than the E Estate it replaces, with some innovations including a system which allows the rear seat backs to be folded using handles inside the rear tailgate.

The new wagon extends a family line stretching back 30 years and, even with small sales in Australia, it is expected to do well. "The Estate is traditionally around six per cent of E-Class sedan sales, but we have a very strong, loyal buyer group who come to us specially for the E-Class Estate,” says Peter Fedayev of Mercedes- Benz Australia.

"History has shown they much prefer an estate version of a sedan car as opposed to a luxury SUV. There are some strong concentrations of Estate buyers in particular cities, to the north in Sydney and the East in Melbourne."

The new wagon has a carrying capacity of up to 1950 litres and also picks up the increases in passenger space from the E sedan. Nine airbags are standard and, although Benz is yet to confirm the local specification, everything from a drowsiness warning and automatic emergency braking to luxury cabin equipment is available in Europe.

The mechanical setup of the wagon is almost identical to the sedan, apart from standard self-levelling suspension at the rear, although the engine choices will be limited. "Customers can expect a choice of four and six-cylinder engines," Fedayev says, without mentioning petrol or diesel power.

But he is keener on the overall package. "The Estate gets all the technologies the new sedan gets. The difference between the sedan and the Estate is the luggage space and the availability of a third row of seats," he says.

"We're expecting it around February next year as part of the introduction phase of the whole new range. The Cabriolet is also expected in the first quarter." There is no news yet on pricing, although the starting price for the new E220 sedan was cut by more than 20 per cent from the previous model.