Mercedes jump-started a new trend of four-door coupes with the CLS. But after several years of having the niche market to itself, the German automaker is bracing for an onslaught of competition, from above and from below. While the Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide attempt to take the four-door coupe formula even farther upmarket, Volkswagen has launched its assault by undercutting the CLS with the new CC (until now known as the Passat CC). If the reports are to be believed, it's the latter that Daimler sees as the bigger threat, and the automaker is preparing to launch its own counter-assault with what's being dubbed as the CLE.
Like the CLS is based on the E-Class, the CLE would be based on the C-Class. But instead of coming in under the C-Class like the recently facelifted but still ageing CLC, the CLE would likely slot in between the C and E. Most of the mechanics would probably also carry over from the C-Class sedan, and the prospect of a swoopier version of the C63 AMG makes us hope the project comes to fruition.
[Source: paultan.org]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Will @ Apr 7th 2008 9:46PM
CLC, CLS, CLE, VW CC, C63 AMG...
slow down with the freakin' alphanumerics, people!
Threader @ Apr 7th 2008 9:48PM
Enough already!
it's 2 door coupe or 4 door sedan! Make your Choice.
hashiryu @ Apr 7th 2008 11:54PM
Thank you very much. 4 door coupe = Oxymoron
jg @ Apr 8th 2008 1:33AM
The word coupe refers to interior volume not the number of doors.
Craig @ Apr 8th 2008 3:21AM
cou·pé (koōp) n.
1. A closed four-wheel carriage with two seats inside and one outside.
2. also coupe (kōōp) A closed two-door automobile.
jgp @ Apr 8th 2008 8:44AM
Rubbish.
Companies have been making 2-door sedans for years.
Or hell, look at Saturn: even though the Ion was a piece of crap, it really showed the distinction between a sedan and a four-door coupe.
mk @ Apr 8th 2008 10:56AM
A sedan can have two doors, although not common. A sedan body style with a standard straight and tall three-box profile (like a sedan) with 4 seats, and sometimes defined by a hard b-pillar, when some coupes used to have no b-pillar and roll-down quarter windows as well.
That is less common now with safety standards. All coupes tend to have b-pillars and fixed quarter glass, and sleeker profiles, so the two-door sedan descriptor is a bit arcane and defunct.
A coupe, by definition, however has only two doors, and is "cut down" in size compared to larger cars with four doors, or full-size two-door sedans.
But a 4-door coupe is like having a four-wheel bicycle. It is invalid by the definition of it's own words.
---
The alphanumerics certainly have run amok. CLS is an E-class "sleek" sedan, not an S-class derived car.
But CLE is a C-class derived sleek sedan, not an E-class base.
I have no idea why MB is so enamored with the arching belt-line, shallow tail end, and joan-rivers-facelifted-headlights, it makes the car look badly bloated, or like a badly drawn cartoon car. The CC isn't much better.
So much for German styling acumen. German cars used to look fantastic, lately they have begun to look aimless and strange just for the sake of being different.
Exceptions being Porsche, and some Audis, including R8. BMWs have gotten strange since Bangle, and MB is trying too hard to not be completely beige-bland, and VW is following along.
k.w.a @ Apr 7th 2008 9:58PM
what's up with mercedes and those new headlights? i must say, it translates better on this CLE and the CLS much better than on the SL
HotRodzNKustoms @ Apr 7th 2008 10:00PM
My favorite part about Mercedes as of late seem to have no rhyme or reason to their lettering.. I might be wrong and CLS stands for in German, Car made for upper-middle management businessmen with kids who wish they could have a CL.
GL= Giant Lizard
R= R wishes of having a Mercedes have come true in the most horrible of ways?
Austin @ Apr 7th 2008 10:08PM
Let me see...there is the...
G,GL,GLK,M,ML(same crossover..its just like this for the highe up amg ones?????),C,CL(2 door coupe of CLS),CLC(hatchback of C),CLE,CLS,E,R,S,SL,SLR,SLK...HELP ME!!!
seriously what is next...is the wagon of the C going to be called CLW and the wagon of the E going to be called ELW!!!!
k.w.a @ Apr 7th 2008 10:33PM
haha, yeah the mercedes lineup and nomenclature is quite extensive. last year when i was interviewed for a job at Car and Driver they tested my car knowledge by making me list every single mercedes name and model off the top of my head. i only missed one.. somehow forgot the R-Class. that's not a real Mercedes anyway! haha
Xcountryflyer @ Apr 8th 2008 3:12PM
Did you get the job? If they hadn't made the new C-class so ugly, they wouldn't have to come up with this new thing.
Syslik @ May 13th 2008 4:27PM
Thank You Very Much!!!! I have been shouting fo a long time that there are now too many merc 'classes'... Half of them should be discounted.. like the 'B' Class... What on earth is it for??
John P. @ Apr 7th 2008 10:24PM
Mercedes is still the go to car if you've got the cash. Sorry Lexus.
almost Dr. G.. @ Apr 7th 2008 10:45PM
not in the $30-45k price range. e-class on up yep!
LeRobert @ Apr 7th 2008 11:06PM
Whenever Mercedes is mentioned people have to find something to complain about. Sour grapes?
Bart @ Apr 7th 2008 11:28PM
I usually like speculations, but this is a bit too much. It's more of a fantasy than a possibility. It would chop into the sales of the C and E, IF it were popular. The CLS is positioned above the E and has no in-brand competition.
I agree that the model naming has become a bit too much lately, but I feel it's more because of the multitude of models rather than the naming. Same goes for BMW though.
RT @ Apr 7th 2008 11:57PM
I'm curious to see what this means for the CLK, the current C-Class based coupe which slots between the C and the E. I wonder if Mercedes can differentiate the CLE and the CLK coupe enough to make it worthwhile to produce both. Perhaps the CLK will become convertible only and the CLE could replace the coupe?
Mirko @ Apr 8th 2008 2:59AM
The CL is not a 2-door CLS, it's the S-Class coupe
ChopperDave @ Apr 8th 2008 8:28AM
How does slotting this between the C and the E position this against the VW CC? The VW will still undercut it.