2011 Mercedes C-Class Coupe spied

These are the very first spy pictures of the forthcoming Mercedes C-Class coupe, returning to the R&D centre after doing some hot-weather testing in Germany. The C-Class coupe will replace the aging CLC in Mercedes range in 2011. The CLC will be axed once the C-Class coupe goes on sale.

Mercedes approved the C-Class coupe in March while outlining their plans to increase production at the Bremen plant, which will assemble the C-Class saloon, estate, coupe and GLK SUV from 2011.

The C-Class coupe will be the second 2dr based on the current C-Class, but the first to take the �C-Class coupe� name into production. The coupe has been envisaged to replace the CLK, which was discontinued earlier this year after 12 years in production and two model generations. Unlike the E-Class coupe, however, the C-Class version will not be modified and offered in cabriolet guise.

�We did look at an open-top version but in the end the costs were too high given the short model life,� said an insider.

The forthcoming coupe will avoid a sole body-shell and distinct styling that made the CLK a success for a rather upright look that borrows heavily on the profile and detailing of the C-Class sedan.

�We went back and studied what made our coupes so popular in the past. If you look at some of the more successful two-door models Mercedes-Benz has produced, you can see a direct relationship between them and their four-door stablemates,� a source said.

Unlike its sedan & wagon siblings, the coupe will be short-lived. With development of the fourth-generation C-Class already in progress at Mercedes� R&D centre by Stuttgart, the coupe will be intended to be sold for four years. It will then be replaced with a much more rounded and practical model that will likely draw lines of the CLS and possess a four-door layout.

The newcomer will go on sale in the UK in Spring 2011, alongside the revised C-Class saloon and wagon.