Mercedes-Benz will launch the new C-Class – a unique syn-thesis of superlative comfort and driving pleasure in this market segment – in spring 2007. This decisive edge comes courtesy of several years of expe-rience, precise Mercedes Codes for comfort and a new development process which the Stuttgart-based manufacturer has implemented for the very first time: digital prototyping. Computer simulations enabled the engineers to define, test and refine the saloon’s major characteristics at a very early stage of development, meaning that even the first ready-to-drive prototypes and pre-production models displayed a high level of maturity. Digital prototyping allowed the Mercedes engineers to make tremendous progress, especially in terms of ride comfort, quiet running, effective climate control and chassis tuning. This process is largely responsible for two of the key characteristics of the new C-Class – driving enjoyment and agility – both of which are of the usual high Mercedes standard.

The redeveloped version of the THERMOTRONIC automatic climate control system allows the desired temperature settings to be programmed separately for three different zones of the interior.

An intelligently designed bodyshell provides an ideal basis for the excellent standard of ride comfort in the C-Class. Static torsional stiffness — a key indicator for the body’s vibration characteristics — has been improved by some 13 percent compared to the outgoing model.

Mercedes-Benz offers advanced versions of the multicontour seats as an option for the C-Class. Their design enables occupants to adapt the shape of the seat to their anatomy or to their individual comfort preferences.