O SAY, CAN YOU C? Sharply styled luxury sedan set to fend off rivals.(News)

Byline: GREG KABLE, KEVIN A. WILSON

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class has been re-invented seven years after its predecessor was introduced. The third-generation C-Class sedan was unveiled Jan. 18 at a gala presentation in Stuttgart, where it could stand alone in the spotlight, out of the shadows of the numerous unveilings the previous week in Detroit. We won't drive the car until it's on display at the Geneva show in March.

The new C takes on a sportier slant with a contemporary design, revised rear-drive underpinnings and more powerful and efficient gasoline engines. Development was aided by an industry-first usage of a complete digital prototype; the earliest mechanical prototypes were sufficiently advanced to begin a 15-million-mile on-road testing program without unduly prolonging the development stage.

As a direct rival to the BMW 3 Series and the Audi A4, the new four-door already appears more competitive than today's model, which was hampered by quality issues before a facelift in 2003. Mercedes engineers are confident that their long on-road testing program ironed out any such glitches in the new model. That's important because in the U.S. market, German cars aren't the only challenge: the Lexus IS, Infiniti G and Cadillac CTS are particularly strong contenders in the rear-drive premium compact segment.

Mercedes-Benz regards the launch of the car as a new beginning and aims the latest C-Class at a younger audience-buyers' average age had crept up steadily since it was introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the smaller 190E, the "baby Benz,'' introduced in 1982. And yet traditionalists are recognized, too-this is the first Mercedes-Benz car that distinguishes between models by using entirely different front-end styling. The Luxury version (called Elegance in Europe) has a traditional M-B grille and standup hood ornament, much like the flagship S-Class sedan's, while the Sport (Avantgarde in Europe) carries its three-pointed star in the center of the grille. Mercedes notes that this has been the practice with its roadsters and coupes in the past and makes the sporting connection, though the star-in-grille motif also appears on the U.S.-built ML-, GL- and R-Classes.

Mercedes boasts that the price won't increase on the base four-cylinder models in Europe, but when the 2008 C-Class, known under the internal code name W204, goes on sale here later this year, prices are expected to rise 3 to 5 percent over the outgoing model. In return, buyers will get higher levels of standard equipment and greater sophistication.

Mercedes-Benz has made a big break with the old C-Class visually, moving to the more technical look of the larger S-Class. Changes inside are equally dramatic. The dashboard has a contemporary design combining cues from the larger S-Class with new developments such as a high-mounted monitor that folds completely out of sight when not in use. There are more buttons for direct control of audio and climate-control systems, working in concert with the revamped COMAND-system rotary dial and multifunction steering wheel. The interior design and layout are attractive, but the material choices and finishes on the cars displayed in Stuttgart didn't elicit the "wow'' response evoked by the CTS cabins that Cadillac showed in Detroit.