Mercedes frugal affordability

It was a production car sandwich at the Merc stand this year, but they had taken out the filling; no mid-spec cars made the big reveal; just two entry-level type ‘bargains,’ two thumping AMG performance saloons, and a Maybach that stretches the wallet as well as the wheelbase.

Bargain isn’t quite the word to use when referring to a Mercedes, let alone an S Class. A new entry-level diesel V6 with 173kW and a massive 540Nm featured on the new C Class, and as an affordable (per se) option on the S Class limo for the first time in Australia, offering execs the frugal affordability of 8.3L/100km.

And the company doesn’t scrimp at the other end of the spectrum either.

The S63 also debuted today, and it has been a long time coming, we first saw it at the Paris Motor Show in September, 2006.

The top-shelf exec-express is the second-last Mercedes variant to receive the 386kW/630Nm 6.3-litre AMG V8, which still stands as the World’s most powerful naturally-aspirated eight-cylinder; enough to make a new M3 owner envious. Let’s not go into the fuel figures for that one…

But Mercedes also debuted a coupe that stretches to S Class length, and it has even more power to boot it.

The CL65 AMG is a five-metre long two-door coupe powered by the older AMG V12 Biturbo powerplant.

Pumping out a tidy 450kW and a capped 1000Nm (it’s limited to preserve your livelihood), the twin-turbocharged V12 is the ultimate wolf in the proverbial jumper. This completes the CL range, which has been dribbling over here from Germany since its international release in March.

The brand new Smart fortwo coupe also made an appearance before its February 2008 release; another car that has been anticipated for quite some time now, and has already been released overseas; and uber-luxury arm Maybach turned up the price tag with its 57S.

 Check out Mercedes video at the Australian International Motor Show