The Mercedes-Benz C-Class continues to be a popular competitor in the mid-size executive car segment, despite fresher faces like the G20 BMW 3 Series, the facelifted Audi A4 range, and the new Genesis G70 cropping up. Last updated in early 2019, the C-Class has slowly climbed in price over the last 18 months. A full list of prices, covering the substantial C-Class range, appears at the end of this article.
The latest round of price changes may reflect the last updates to the current W205-generation C-Class in Australia before the new ‘W206‘ version is unveiled in early 2021.
Mercedes-Benz has brought the popular entry-level C200 up in price just a whisker, with the 2020 model year car starting from $66,300 ($72,643 driveaway), which represents a $1,800 increase. For September this year, Mercedes-Benz also chose to drop the sole diesel C220 d from the range entirely.
The C-Class range takes in (L-R) convertible, sedan, station wagon and coupe form factors. Seen here is the AMG C63 S lineup.
This transpires to be a move that brings the Stuttgart luxury brand into line with the Audi A4 in not offering a diesel in their mid-size estate. Otherwise, the range remains mostly the same, with the choice of traditional four-door Sedan, Wagon and smart two-door Convertible and Coupe retained.
For $66,300, the base model C200 Sedan is powered by a two-litre turbocharged four-cylinder punching out 150kW and 300Nm attached to a nine-speed torque-converter automatic shared with the rest of the range.
Inside, you get Artico-upholstered seats – artificial leather in other words – with electric assist for the driver, Nappa leather-appointed steering wheel, 10.25-inch display with a touchpad interface, sat-nav, a configurable digital driver’s display, ambient lighting and five drive modes.
The C-Class cuts an elegant figure.
A more powerful tune of the two-litre ‘four powers the C300 – the range now skips the C220 d. Outputs in the C300 climb to 190kW/370Nm, the wheels also grow in size to 19-inches and an extra exhaust tip appears.
The C300 starts from $74,700 ($81,463 driveaway), and the extra asking price sees a genuine leather-appointed interior, standard driving assist, rear privacy glass and dual electronically adjustable front seats with lumbar support.
Topping out the Benz C-Class range is the plug-in C300 e from $84,000 ($92,023 driveaway), which is only available as a Sedan. It adds goodies like an Avantgarde styling package, keyless go, parking assistance, power tailgate and tyre pressure monitoring system.
The C-Class interior is more ornate than most of this car’s rivals.
Inside, there’s more interior connectivity with over-the-air updates and Mercedes Connect services, dual USB ports for the rear passengers and air suspension.
But the big news for this variant is the combination of a four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor, for combined outputs of 235kW and 700Nm. That means two things, a snappy sprint to 100km/h of just 5.1 seconds, and a claimed fuel consumption of 2.1L/100km. On a full charge, the C300 e Sedan will make it about 50km on EV power alone.
Moving on to the more focused C-Class AMG variants, the AMG C43 is available in all four body styles again. A three-litre V6 with two turbochargers makes 287kW and 520Nm, it’s only marginally faster to 100km/h that the PHEV at 4.7 seconds, but its legs are only just starting to limber up at that point.
The two fast load-luggers of the range – the C43 and C63 wagons – are our favourites.
AMG has fiddled with the suspension, so the AMG is lower, meaner and sharper to drive, without being as stiff as the full-fat AMG C63 S. An AMG interior package complements the meaner, bulging exterior appearance, with a set of 19-inch alloy wheels to finish off the $111,935 ($122,435 driveaway) package.
Finally, the fire-breathing C63 S AMG which builds further on the menace visually with further flared guards, motorsports-inspired 19-inch light-alloy wheels and red brake callipers. The menace is physical, too, with a barnstorming twin-turbo V8 providing 375kW of power, 700Nm of torque and an aggro soundtrack.
2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class: prices in Australia
All prices are before on-road costs.
- C200 Sedan – $66,300 (up $1,800)
- C200 Wagon – $68,800 (up $1,877)
- C200 Coupe – $71,200 (up $2,000)
- C200 Convertible – $94,100 (up $4,258)
- C300 Sedan – $74,700 (up $2,000)
- C300 Wagon – $77,400 (up $2,258)
- C300 Coupe – $89,200 (up $2,400)
- C300 Convertible – $112,300 (up $8,558)
- C300 e Sedan – $84,000 (up $4,800)
- AMG C43 Sedan – $111,935 (up $2,194)
- AMG C43 Wagon – $114,535 (up $2,293)
- AMG C43 Coupe – $116,136 (up $2,295)
- AMG C43 Convertible – $137,400 (up $10,359)
- AMG C63 S Sedan – $165,836 (up $3,294)
- AMG C63 S Wagon – $168,536 (up $3,394)
- AMG C63 S Coupe – $171,036 (up $3,394)
- AMG C63 S Convertible – $194,400 (up $8,059)
Pictured: the C300 e plug-in hybrid.
