Mercedes-Benz C Class Diesel Coming To U.S. in 2012

by David Kiley (RSS feed)
Jan 28th 2011 at 8:01PM

Mercedes-Benz's U.S. divisionis expanding its clean diesel BlueTec lineup to include its C-Class for the 2013 model year, so it will be arriving in showrooms in 2012.

Ernst Lieb, CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America, also said the German automaker intends to bring a diesel version of the GLK-Class crossover. The German carmaker this year has already announced the addition of a diesel S Class.

Clean diesel sales are mounting among German automakers, which sell more of the vehicles in Europe, are pushing the vehicles in the U.S. Diesel accounted in 2010 for 53 percent of Audi A3 deliveries and more than 43 percent of Audi Q7 registrations. The A3 TDI diesel won the 2010 Green Car of The Year Award.

Mercedes expects diesel will eventually account for 10 percent of its U.S. sedan sales and 20 percent of SUV deliveries. BMW, which is also pushing diesel vehicles to help it meet stiffening fuel economy standards, offers butters a $4,500 rebate to cover the $3,050 to $5,500 premium it charges for its diesel 3 Series and X5 models.

Diesel vehicles get between 25% and 40% greater fuel economy than gas-power versions of the same car. Diesel fuel is often more expensive than gas, discouraging some buyers from taking the plunge. The fuel's availability has also improved, with 52 percent of U.S. stations offering diesel today compared with 35 percent in 1997, according to Diesel Technology Forum. Even so, while it isn't available at every station, it is widely available in every market.

Tags: audi, bluetec, bluetec-diesel, bmw diesel, diesel, mercedes c class, TDI