Stuart Johnston was invited by Mercedes-Benz South Africa to attend the international launch of the 2015 C-Class in France.

By Mercedes-Benz standards, the C-Class is relatively new ‘interloper’ in the product line-up. After all, there have been Benz cars driving around since 1886! But since 1982 – when the C-Class car was still called the 190 series, the Stuttgart-based company had sold 8,5 million of the so-called kleine Mercedes.

It is obvious then, that the new 2015 C-Class had to be not just good, but very good, a big leap ahead of its predecessor, since in volume terms it is the most-produced car in the passenger line-up. And just before lunch on the very first day of the international launch in Provence, France, I was of the opinion, you might almost say relieved, that yes indeed, this is not only a good Mercedes, but an excellent one. Perhaps even a brilliant car.

Relief? Well, I have been less than convinced by the A-Class and its sedan-coupe sibling, the CLA, launched here in the past nine months or so. Styling-wise, yes the A-Class is a huge success, doing the very job it was designed to do and that is to woo young customers to the Mercedes family. And they are selling up a storm.

But as an overall package, they lack that composure for which Mercedes-Benz is famous, and I was afraid this might be the case with the C-Class too, that the chassis-cum-suspension engineers may have strayed too deeply in the stiff-equals-sporty territory that in my opinion mars the current entry-Merc.

C-Class composed

Not so. Winding up the twisty roads from Marseille airport into Provence-proper, the new 2014 C-Class evinced all the characteristics that traditionally set a Mercedes-Benz apart from entry-premium sedan segment competitors – fluidity, composure, and an absolute sense of assurance, with no hint of aggression.

“The core philosophy behind the C-Class comprises six essential elements,” explained Dr Michael Kraemer, Vice President at Mercedes-Benz for mid-sized cars, as I collared him just before sitting down to some superb veal and a cup of premium level coffee.

“First of all, there is the design of both exterior and interior in high quality, secondly the safety, then the comfort, the driveability, and the fuel efficiency. And this package should offer something special to the customer in each of these aspects. And of course there is a lot more to the new C-Class as well.”

Kraemer feels his team has been so successful in meeting these targets, that the new Mercedes Benz C-Class actually takes you up to a higher class than the one populated by the previous C-Class. In other words, is he saying the new C-Class is comparable to, say, BMW’s 5-Series, Audi’s A6?

Air suspension on both axles

In short, his answer to that is yes. And he may well be right. Technologically, the new C-Class moves the boundaries in terms of having safety and driver-assist systems that have only just been introduced on the range-topping S-Class. It is also the first car in this category to have the option of AIRMATIC air suspension on both front and rear axles.

As part of the new Intelligent Drive driver-assistance safety package it has the most advanced collision avoidance systems currently in production, its Plus system offering autonomous braking at speeds of up to 200 km/h. It also brakes automatically in response to stationary vehicles at up to 50 km/h and we experienced at the Michelin test track in Provence on Day Two of the international launch in France, when the braking force initiated totally without driver intervention is absolutely astounding.

Powerplant options

The new C-Class comes with a variety of engine options, all designed to meet the forthcoming Euro 6 emissions standards. The diesel options include 1.6-litre turbo-diesels in 85 or 100 kW form, as well as improved versions of the current 2.3-litre diesel four-cylinder motor ranging in output from 85 kW to 150 kW. Torque readings, more important from a diesel perspective, range from 280 Nm in the entry-spec 1.6 turbo diesel to 400 Nm in the C 220 BlueTEC, which we sampled on the launch drive.

The petrol variants range from a 1.6, badged as the C180 (115 kW) to a 180 kW two-litre. South Africa will be getting initially, the C 180- and C 200 petrol variants, the C220 BlueTEC diesel and the C250, which is a 155 kW petrol model.

Steering feel and response

A feature of the launch was the number of experts on hand to answer any questions journalists might have had nagging at them. Steering feel and response is one of my pet subjects, and according to Dr Michael Hafner, who was responsible of all the driver assistance systems in the new car, the goal was to achieve what the firm calls ‘The Mercedes-Benz feel’. This feel to steering is, or should be, at the core of all Mercedes products, and in my brief launch experience with the car it exemplifies the mix of fluidity and road-surface-to-steering wheel feedback that a good steering system should incorporate.

In recent years, many manufacturers have battled in achieving this ideal feel, where the front tyres loading up in a corner transfer that increase on torque through to the steering wheel, as manufacturers have moved from hydraulically-assisted steering systems to electric power assistance, so that the electric systems can be switched off when there is no movement on the steering wheel and thus save energy. A longer test drive on home turf will confirm just how good it is, but for now, I feel Mercedes has achieved a great compromise. And the same goes for the suspension system with its all-new four-link from strut system which is superb in the way it absorbs bumps and keeps steering and suspension geometry accurate.

Mercedes Benz C-Class interior

The cabin is also very much a step way ahead in terms of tangible quality, the materials used being of exemplary class and tasteful, and the fit of panels, such as those on the inside of the A-pillars and the door arm rests and cappings, is way ahead of the offering in previous C-Class.

All this, and the car looks good too. Mercedes’ designers have managed to incorporate many of the themes introduced on the SLS sports car, the A-Class and the CLA, as well as the S-Class, into an integrated whole that to my mind is very pleasing on the high. It has a cutting-edge feel to it, as well as a svelte elegance, something which is not that easy to achieve. There may be the odd fussy detail, but these, perhaps, add character too. Bland the new Mercedes Benz C-Class certainly isn’t, and yet it is still a C-Class.

South African production

There is much more to tell about the new car, but not enough time and space right here. By the way, the test cars we drove in France were produced in Germany, but right now as we speak Mercedes Benz South Africa is ramping up to full production on the all-new C-Class in its East London award-winning plant.

Mercedes Benz C-Class price in South Africa

Those will be the ones we will receiving in a few months’ time and the average price increase over the current model is said to be just six per cent. That means that the launch prices here in May will range from R415900 for the C 180 to R502600 for the range-topping C 250. Right now, my leaning would be towards the C 220 Blue TEC at R459000, although this is for the manual model, and I would definitely go for the automatic model in this engine configuration.

For more details about the Mercedes-Benz C-Class specifications, click here.