First look at all-new Mercedes E-Class

The folks at Mercedes-Benz are hard at work on a new generation of the E-Class, following big updates to the S-Class and C-Class in recent years. After seeing latest model in development wearing mostly C-Class body panels, we're getting our first real look at the styling of the sedan during European testing. Unfortunately, it's very well camouflaged from stem to stern, and the obfuscation makes picking out the new details rather difficult. There are a few tweaks to spot, though.

The most obvious change appears to be at the nose where the E-Class wears the blunter front end seen on cars in the current Mercedes range. The upcoming sedan also reportedly uses a longer and wider version of the modular platform underpinning the latest C-Class. The new chassis should help the model shed some pounds because of its extensive use of aluminum, as is the trend in the automotive world these days.

There is a bit of a wait before the latest sedan is slated to be ready. The new E-Class is rumored to launch in 2016 and possibly include Mercedes' alleged upcoming inline-six engine in the powertrain lineup. A plug-in hybrid model is also a possibility, according to our spies. The coupe, convertible and wagon variants are expected to move forward to the next gen eventually, but Mercedes isn't saying anything about them yet. Of course, an AMG version is almost certain, as well.