What's the difference?
You like performance, love a bit of luxury and fancy a traditional sedan. The budget is healthy and there’s a surprising amount of choice. But Mercedes-AMG believes it’s created the car that perfectly answers your new-car brief.
The Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ is a fresh expression of an established high-performance sedan formula mixing internal-combustion power with electric punch and all-wheel drive.
We were invited to its local launch, so stay with us to see if this newcomer is ready to fill that primo European performance car shaped space in your garage.
The Mercedes-Benz V-Class van isn’t made for ferrying parcels from point to point. No, even though it is based on the Vito courier van, the V-Class is all about human cargo.
And let’s be clear, here: we’re not talking about chucking people in the back and hoping they get to their destination without cracks or breakages. This is a luxury van made to move people in comfort and style, with all the trimmings you’d expect of a vehicle bearing the three-pointed star badge.
So, is it any good? I played hire-car driver to find out.
The Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ is a superb blend of high-tech hybrid muscle and cossetting top-end luxury. Value is competitive, it looks (and feels) the business, despite the conventional sedan configuration it’s surprisingly practical (except for the modest boot), fuel-efficiency is a key benefit and safety is stellar. The ownership proposition is okay for the category but that’s not top of mind when an enticing series of corners ranges into view. It’s an impressive package.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
The Mercedes-Benz V-Class, and in particular the Mercedes-Benz V220d, lives up to the notion of a luxury people-mover – for the most part. The leaking door is a concern, but may be confined to this vehicle only.
But in most every other way it has the whole prestige bus thing sorted. There is no denying that a more affordable van from a less, shall we say, desirable brand would do just as good a job.
But if you need to be seen to be offering the most luxurious people-mover you can buy in Australia, then you really ought to be looking at the V-Class…. just maybe go for the V250d, if the budget can stretch that far.