Rakish new EV C-Class could break with a 50-year tradition and go without an estate option
Mercedes currently has no plans to introduce an estate version of the new C-Class, despite BMW confirming that it will offer a big-booted Touring version of the new i3.
Every C-Class so far (and its W201-generation 190E predecessor of the 1980s) has been offered in estate form, but this new EV could be the first to buck the trend, simply because, said designer Robert Lesnik, “nobody is buying them”.
Asked about the prospect of turning the new coupé-roofed C-Class into a wagon, Lesnik told Autocar: “It’s interesting: if I sit down with guys like you or other designers, they say ‘well, I like station wagons!”, but in the end, nobody is buying them.
“We have three regions. Nobody is buying them in America; we tried the shooting brake [version] of the CLS and nobody bought it. The Chinese don’t understand them and don’t buy them. Then Europe is left, and if you look at a Mercedes E-Class, it’s pretty expensive – so who can actually buy a car like that in Europe?”
Lesnik is a self-professed estate fan: his first car was an Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon and he thinks Mercedes’ best current car is the “almost perfect” E-Class Estate. But he said the decision on any future additions to the range would be founded on commercial viability.
“Don’t ask me,” he said. “I say we should have station wagons, but the reality is a little bit different.”
Ultimately, he said, it’s a case of “never say no”, but for now it seems Mercedes expects the technically identical electric GLC SUV to provide a more spacious option for families in this segment.
