Mercedes-Benz C250 2015 News

Here's a recap of the year's stars, with impressive arrivals and value added to staples.

Last year the vehicle market notched up a record with 1,136,227 sales, busting the previous zenith by about 24,000 and confirming that in Australia, one million-plus is the norm.Figures for November, released last week, show sales have already passed the million mark, and when the final tally emerges in early January the industry will congratulate itself on another bumper year.In reality, it has spent most of 2014 in reverse and it would take a freak December to even approach last year's total.If the trend holds, then the overall decline will be about 2 per cent - equivalent to 500 fewer buyers a week. But it's a mixed picture for the 50 or so brands, with the gap between winners and losers larger than ever.With one or two exceptions, the winners by a substantial margin are luxury brands. Their share of the market now approaches 9 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent last year, and it's reflected in some impressive numbers.The German luxury trio dominates but Australia bucks the trend by favouring Mercedes-Benz ahead of BMW and Audi.With its small car range - the A, B, CLA and GLA - flying out of showrooms, the three-pointed star is stretching its lead over BMW and rubs it in by selling more of its expensive performance variants as well.Its bestseller, the C-Class, has been available for only a few months but will finish the year as the third most popular mid-size car at any price - behind only the Toyota Camry and Mazda6.Audi's ambition is to overtake its German peers and become No 1 here, replicating its position in Europe and China. After slowing in 2012, its growth spurt has resumed and it's catching BMW on the strength of its award-winning A3 small car.Some of the second-tier luxury brands are powering ahead even faster. Thanks to its new-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, demand for the British SUV specialist is up 22 per cent. It will finish as the fourth most popular luxury marque.Ironically, SUV demand is also powering Porsche. It cannot get enough of its second SUV, the Macan, and waiting times are stretching the patience of buyers. Without the Macan, Porsche was on track for a record. With it, sales are up almost 50 per cent. When Maserati adds an SUV, the Levante, in 2016 it can expect to get a comparable boost.Super-large, super-expensive SUVs are what the elite badges lack but they are all working on one. Even so, Maserati's push for volume is yielding results. The new-generation large sedans Ghibli and Quattroporte have almost tripled sales this year.Even among the luxury brands there are losers. Volvo lacks the deep pockets of the Germans and is struggling to keep its product pipeline full. Its dealers will doubtless breathe easier when the overdue replacement for its XC90 SUV arrives in the second quarter next year, with sales down 7 per cent in 2014.Lexus is another that has waited too long for fresh product and its NX mid-size SUV arrives too late to prevent it treading water.Among mainstream brands, losers are much easier to find than winners. Over-optimism and the pressure to grow meant many ended 2013 carrying too much stock, with Nissan the standout - but far from sole - example.The traditional solution to this problem, and one by no means limited to mainstream brands, is for the distributor and/or dealers to register cars themselves.It's a way of meeting sales targets but it simply saves up trouble, not the least of which is an excess of ageing 'demonstrator' models that sooner or later have to actually be sold. When they are, the sales have already been counted.Combine that with an assault on their traditional territory by the luxury brands and everyone from Toyota to Honda, Holden to Ford, has seen their numbers go south.But the biggest losers in 2014? Cheap Chinese brands, with Chery sales down 35 per cent and Great Wall almost 60 per cent.

Mercedes-Benz is moving the new C-Class closer to the top shelf, which will make even more breathing space for the very affordable CLA (which starts at $49,900) underneath the C's kick-off -- currently about $10,000 higher.So the new 2015 lighter and more powerful C-Class unveiled just a couple of hours ago ahead of the Detroit show doors opening tomorrow owes a lot to the S-Class flagship, including some styling cues and high-end technology that will take the fight to the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series and 4 Series.The fresh exterior makeover is matched in the cabin with hand-stitched leather upholstery, a 7-in touchscreen that can be optioned up to a massive 8.3-in with touchpad control, premium Burmester audio, a heads-up display option, and internet connectivity and apps. It will also be the first in its class to offer adaptive air suspension, with modes switchable from Comfort, ECO, Sport, and Sport+ via the Agility Select switch.The engine line-up starts with the base model C180's turbocharged 115kW/250Nm 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol unit, with Mercedes claiming a 0-100km/h time of 8.2 seconds and fuel economy of 5.0L/100km. Moving up the scale, the C200 is powered by a 135kW/300Nm turbo 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol with official 0-100km/h time of 7.5 seconds and 5.3L/100km economy.The C220 Bluetec carries a 125kW/400Nm 2.1-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel with an urea injection system to reduce emissions to the tighter coming EU6 standards, and claims a 0-100km time of 8.1 seconds and 4.0L/100km economy. The frugal focus is helped by all engines getting stop-start and brake energy recovery systems, and by the car having dropped up to 100kg in weight, depending on variant.Transmission choices for the launch models are a six-speed manual and seven-speed auto, with those gearboxes driving the rear wheels in the initial line-up. However an all-wheel drive will join them later in the year, as well as more engines: a petrol-electric hybrid at one end of the spectrum and a fire-breathing twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 for the AMG variant.And the C-Class is also getting a hold, as motor authority points out on the S-Class's mantle as the world's safety leader, with an arsenal of standard features including attention-monitoring, collision prevention that helps brake the car if it senses a bingle is imminent, and options including lane-keeping, active parking assist, extra brake helpers, a 360-degree camera and in some markets a system that can read traffic signs.We'll get the new C-Class in the later half of this year, and should have news on any price changes closer to the local launch. For more news on the Detroit show, head over to our dedicated mini-site.  

A new Mercedes-Benz C-Class is on the way, and tipped to get a global debut at the Detroit motor show in January -- although some think it might be unveiled even earlier, at next month's LA show.The German carmaker has already started the drip feed of teases, and -- while the Mercedes S-Class CoupeThat all suggests what we're seeing is their mainstay model in sedan version, which will be followed in short order by a coupe, wagon, sporty liftback coupe and convertible, plus a high-performance AMG variant.The accompany statement talks about "an interior with high-class ambience, a new touchpad control surface and a lightweight bodyshell" but gives no further information. However the C-Class is reported to built on a shortened version of the new MRA rear-wheel drive platform underpinning the S-Class flagship, with an all-wheel drive version in the mix.It will also be the first C-Class to offer air suspension for high spec models and a hybrid on the drivetrain list along with 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre petrol engines and 2.0-litre and 2.2-litre diesels.Following its debut, the C-Class will hit overseas showrooms about mid-2014 as a 2015 model, and arrive here before the end of next year, although local launch dates and specification have not yet been confirmed.