Mercedes Benz

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Mercedes-Benz at the 2010 “Mondial de l’Automobile” in Paris: Style icons and technology trendsetters - three world premieres from the inventor of the automobile

- World premiere of the new CLS – the four-door premium coupe enters its second generation
- World premiere of the A-Class E-CELL – electric family car with a range of more than 200 kilometers
- World premiere of the S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY – the world’s first 5-liter car in the luxury class
- Efficiency push – new BlueDIRECT engines, new 7G-TRONIC PLUS, 50 models with ECO start/stop function by mid-2011

Paris, France, Sep 30, 2010 – With three world premieres at the 2010 “Mondial de l’Automobile”, Mercedes-Benz is making an emphatic statement about the power of its innovation to combine automotive fascination with the highest levels of efficiency and environmental compatibility. At the same time, the new models represent the intelligent drive mix created by Mercedes-Benz as the basis for individually tailored “green” mobility. The new generation of the successful CLS four-door coupe combines groundbreaking design and cultivated sporting character with fuel consumption benefits of up to 25 percent compared with its predecessor. As an electric family car with a range of more than 200 kilometers, the new A-Class E-CELL facilitates entry into e-mobility on a broad front. And, as the first 5-liter car in the luxury segment, the new S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY is the perfect illustration of how well-prepared the premium automobiles from Mercedes-Benz are for the future.


With its new models, Mercedes-Benz is using key accents to set the scene in advance of the 125th birthday of the automobile, “We are celebrating this anni-versary by forging ahead with the re-invention of the automobile – with groundbreaking technologies from the A to the S-Class,” says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars at the Mercedes press conference on the completely re-designed exhibition stand that creates a fascinating three-dimensional brand experience on more than 2,000 square meters. “And in the next 125 years of automotive history, Mercedes-Benz will do exactly what the inventors of the automobile have practiced with great success for the past 124 years – we will move forward.”

A-Class E-CELL – zero emissions, zero compromise in everyday use

With the A-Class E-CELL, Mercedes-Benz is putting its third electric car on the road – after the B-Class F-CELL with fuel cell and Vito E-CELL van with battery-electric drive. The full-size five-seater combines unrestricted family and everyday usability with the latest safety technology and refined performance. For quiet, zero local emissions drive, there is a 70 kW (95 hp) electric motor with a high torque of 290 Nm. Two extremely efficient lithium-ion batteries enable a range of more than 200 km (NEDC).

“Electro-mobility is increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives. And we are well prepared,” says Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG responsible for Group Research and Development Mercedes-Benz Cars. “We also know that electro-mobility will not arrive at the touch of a button. For this reason, we are focusing on an intelligent drive mix for our current and future vehicles that incorporates something more – fascination. Because the automobile – especially the premium automobile – will remain in the future what it always was, a highly emotional product.”

S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY – first 5-liter car in the luxury segment

Mercedes-Benz is underscoring the future potential of the internal combustion engine with the new S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, the first 5-liter car in the luxury class. The first four-cylinder in the more than 60-year success story of the S-Class – a highly efficient turbodiesel – achieves fuel consumption of only 5.7 liters per 100 kilometers in the NEDC, which equates to CO2 emissions of 149 g/km. This makes the new S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY the first vehicle in its class to undercut the 150 gram mark for CO2 emissions. Zetsche, “We want to be efficiency world champions, and we will make it happen. In order to achieve this target, we are also doing things that were previously considered unthinkable – for example, putting a four-cylinder engine into an S-Class. Some might see it as sacrilege, we call it progress.”

The new CLS – design icon and technology trendsetter

With its fascinating and sensuous design and its cultivated sporting character, the new-generation CLS benefits from the fact that, as founder of the segment, Mercedes-Benz is a full generation ahead. All engines in the CLS are new and deliver fuel consumption improvements of up to 25 percent compared with the outgoing models. Also contributing to this increased efficiency is the electro-mechanical direct steering, which celebrates its premiere in the CLS.

The highest level of efficiency is the common denominator in all four engines featuring in the new CLS. All the power units have increased output and torque compared with their predecessors, while fuel consumption has dropped by up to 25 percent. When sales begin in Europe in January 2011, it will be available in two six-cylinder engine variants – the CLS 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with 195 kW (265 hp) and the CLS 350 BlueEFFICIENCY with 225 kW (306 hp). They will also feature the ECO start/stop function as standard. Just two months later, the engine range will be expanded by the CLS 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with 150 kW (204 hp). In the ECE fuel cycle it consumes only 5.1 liters of diesel/ 100 km. The CLS 500 BlueEFFICIENCY with a V8 engine and 300 kW (408 hp) will follow in April. Both of these variants are also equipped as standard with the ECO start/stop function that Mercedes-Benz will offer in more than 50 models throughout its entire product portfolio by mid-2011.

Dr. Weber, “For us, the new CLS is a design icon and technology trendsetter at the same time. On the one hand, this fascinating automobile functions as a guide for our future design language. At the same, the new CLS substantiates our assertion of technological leadership.”

The new CLS also set benchmarks in the field of safety. Features of the new four-door coupe include twelve intelligent driver assistance systems. Furthermore, the CLS is the first car in the world available with optional innovative high-performance LED headlamps. These combine for the first time the Intelligent Light System already available in Mercedes models with bi-xenon headlamps with LED technology.

Dr. Zetsche, “The CLS brings together all typical Mercedes values – excellent safety and first-class comfort are as much a part of it as outstanding efficiency, impressive dynamics and unmistakable style. The original four-door premium coupe is a clear example of what we mean by ‘contemporary luxury’.”

The new-generation CL-Class – efficiency in the top luxury segment

With the new-generation CL-Class, Mercedes-Benz is pushing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions into the spotlight in the exclusive top segment, too. The fundamentally redesigned and further enhanced two-door coupe features the same highly efficient engines that are now available in the S-Class and the new CLS. Alongside the newly developed BlueDIRECT technology with third-genera­tion direct injection, the bespoke BlueEFFICIENCY package in the CL 500 BlueEFFICIENCY contributes to a significant 22 percent reduction in fuel consumption.