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The baby B-Class is already public and the runout of a whole range of small cars continues early next year. Mercedes is starring an electric teaser for the next Smart ForTwo at the Tokyo Motor Show that has the colour and movement intended to win Japanese buyers to the brand.
But there is much more to come in 2012 and the design director at Mercedes-Benz, Gordon Wagener, is blunt in his assessment of the company's earlier work.
"We will have the Coupe at the Geneva Motor Show," Wagener tells Carsguide at the Tokyo Motor Show.
"There will eventually be five cars. Or more ... "These will be youthful. Particularly the coupe. It's based on the new B-Class platform."
But Wagener is no fan of the outgoing A and B-Class cars and their boxy styling. "These were old man's cars. They damaged the reputation of our brand."
The new coupe is expected to be called the CLC and will be presented alongside a rounded five-door A-Class that is a world away from the outgoing model.
Wagener says the arrival of the new B-Class family also opens the way for AMG hotrod versions of the cars, which were previously excluded from the work of the performance division. And he promises cleaner design on the go-fast models.
"We now have total control of all AMG design. It is now fully integrated," he says. "It's about the detailing. There is more we can do. Some of the stuff in the past has not been particularly elegant."
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