Mercedes-Benz Boss Says Next C-Class to Get Convertible and Hybrid, But No 3-Series GT Rival

With all the prototypes of the next Mercedes-Benz C-Class we’ve seen going around lately, it was only a matter of time before the brand with the star started talking about its new compact premium sedan.

In an interview with Autonews, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon laid out the firm’s plans and divulged some interesting details about the new W205-codenamed C-Class, which for the first time ever, will be produced at the company’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant starting next year.

In another first, it will also be powered by a U.S.-made 2.0-liter turbo’d four-cylinder engine. The latter will be co-produced by parent company Daimler and Nissan at the Japanese carmaker’s Dechard, Tennessee facility.

According to Cannon, besides the sedan and the coupe models that are already offered in the current C-Class lineup, Mercedes-Benz will add a convertible body style and hybrid-powered models to the range to better compete with its arch-rival, the BMW 3-Series that is available as a sedan, Hybrid, Touring (station wagon), coupe, convertible, and in the near future, in Gran Turismo and Gran Coupe guises. We should note that BMW‘s next Coupe and Convertible and the upcoming Gran Coupe models will be named 4-Series.

If you add sales of all body styles and versions of the 3-Series last year, BMW is ahead of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class 99,602 to 81,697, respectively. However, the gap between the sedan models alone is much smaller as BMW delivered 75,183 examples of its 3-Series saloons versus Mercedes’ 70,493 C-Class units in 2012.

“We were fighting the 3 series with two arms tied behind our back, and now we will change that,” Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Steve Cannon told the publication

What Mercedes-Benz won’t do is offer the Estate version of the C-Class in North America: “We would rather not do that,” said Cannon. “Rather than offering a station wagon, we clearly know that SUVs and light trucks are the way to go.”

As for a rival to BMW’s 3-Series GT, Cannon said it’s “an answer to product question that no one is asking for”, meaning Mercedes has no plans to develop such a vehicle.

Cannon added that the new C-Class will debut at the 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January, and will go on sale in sedan form in August of the same year, with the other body style to follow after.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoopS

PHOTO GALLERY