Geneva 2018: World Premiere Of Mercedes-Benz C-Class Facelift

Mercedes-Benz will be rolling out the facelift of its hugely successful W205 C-Class range at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in early March.

The scope of the exterior updates during this mid-life product improvement cycle are quite typical: new headlight design and features (MULTIBEAM with ULTRARANGE), new taillamp design as well as new bumpers with variant-specific trim inserts (silver or chrome trim strip).

The interior of the C-Class meanwhile receives the biggest budget for its facelift program. Major updates can be seen immediately from the driver’s seat with the new multifunction steering wheel, which looks pretty much the same as the wheel from the last year's facelifted S-Class flagship.

Drivers can control the content in the meter display through the Touch Control Buttons that respond to swiping motions like the screen of a smartphone.

The new C-Class will also adopt the display concept of the current S-Class and E-Class, with an optional 12.3-inch high resolution fully digital instrument display offering three different display styles of Classic, Sport and Progressive. 

Interestingly, the digital display is housed within the original curvature of the meter binnacle, rather than a rectangular screen as executed in the S-Class and E-Class dashboards.

The latest driver assistance systems found in the larger and newer E-Class will also find its way into the options list of the new C-Class. Improved camera and radar systems enable to scan much further all-around. Addition of Active Lane Change Assist and Active Steering Assist together with the new scanning systems enable the new C-Class to have semi-autonomous driving in certain situations.  

Expect powertrain options to be maintained, with turbocharged 2.0-litre 4-cylinders combined with the new 9-speed 9G-Tronic automatic transmission to continue in the mainstream, non AMG models.

To date, Mercedes-Benz has sold over 415,000 units of the sedan and estate models since its global launch in 2014. In Malaysia, over 11,000 units have been delivered, with a wide range of variants including the high tech C 350 e plug-in hybrid.