OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Dr. Joachim Schmidt:
- “The E-Class is and will remain a key pillar of growth for Mercedes-Benz. We offer our customers an unparalleled range of products in this segment, encompassing a sedan, an estate, a coupe, and a convertible.”
- “At the same time, the E-Class is setting benchmarks not only for market success but also with regard to safety, profitability, and efficiency. Thanks to new engines, the new E-Class’ fuel consumption has been reduced by up to 20 percent. The automatic transmission version of the E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, for example, consumes only 4.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers in the NEDC and emits 129 grams of CO2 per kilometer.”
Stuttgart, Germany, May 31, 2011 – The E-Class continues to stay on the road to success. Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Cars: “Until today we have delivered more than 500,000 vehicles of the E-Class family to customers, and the E-Class is and will remain a key pillar of growth for Mercedes-Benz. We offer our customers an unparalleled range of products in this segment, encompassing a sedan, an estate, a coupe, and a convertible. At the same time, the E-Class is setting benchmarks not only for market success but also with regard to safety, profitability, and efficiency. Thanks to new engines, the new E-Class’ fuel consumption has been reduced by up to 20 percent. The automatic transmission version of the E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, for example, consumes only 4.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers in the NEDC and emits 129 grams of CO2 per kilometer.”
Persistent market success
Around 376,000 sedans, 64,000 estates, and more than 110,000 coupes and convertibles have been sold to date. As a result, a total of about 550,000 customers have bought a vehicle of the E-Class family. The sedan was launched in March 2009, followed two months later by the coupe in May and by the estate in November. The E-Class family has been complete since the introduction of the convertible in March 2010.
Sales in the E-Class segment put on further at the beginning of the second quarter. Sales have increased by a total of 13 percent since January, to 107,278 units (63,517 sedans and 12,553 estates). Sales of the E-Class convertible are continuing to grow very dynamically, increasing more than fourfold (plus 229 percent) from the previous year. The E-Class convertible and the coupe thus defended their market leadership worldwide.
The E-Class sedan is the market leader in its comparative class in the U.S., which is also the vehicle’s largest market, accounting for around 20 percent of global sales. The second-largest market is China, followed by Germany. The largest market for the E-Class estate is Germany. The coupe and convertible models are most frequently bought by customers in the U.S., with Germany and the UK being other major markets for these vehicles.
The predecessor of the current E-Class was also successful worldwide, and a total of 1.6 million sedans and estates of the 211 series were delivered to customers in the years after the vehicle was introduced on the market in 2002.
A benchmark for efficiency, safety, and economy
More than ever before, new gasoline engines and an optimized powertrain have made the Mercedes-Benz E-Class the benchmark for efficiency in its segment in 2011. All of the car’s gasoline and diesel engines are now equipped with direct injection. Other features that help to reduce fuel consumption by up to 20 percent include the standard-fitted ECO start-stop function and the optimized 7G-TRONIC PLUS seven-speed automatic transmission, which is now also available for the four-cylinder engine variants. The automatic transmission versions of the E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY (125 kW/170 hp) and E 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY (150 kW/204 hp) consume only 4.9 – 5.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers in the NEDC and emit 129 – 138 grams of CO2 per kilometer. This makes the E 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY the most efficient upper-range diesel model for its output rating.
An internationally unparalleled combination of state-of-the-art assistance and protection systems make the E-Class the trendsetter in the field of safety. Around a dozen different assistance systems are available to customers, including the standard-fitted ATTENTION ASSIST system, which monitors more than 70 parameters to determine a driver’s level of concentration, enabling it to warn the motorist in time if he or she is suffering from fatigue. Just as unique is the optional Adaptive High-Beam Assist.
The E-Class also scores well among customers when it comes to value: It was declared the “2011 Value Champion” as a result of an assessment carried out by Auto Bild magazine and EurotaxSchwacke. According to the residual value forecasts of the market researchers, a four-year-old E-Class vehicle will have the lowest loss of value in the upper-range segment.
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