R&S Pride SEPTEMBER 230.qxp 12/08/2021 09:10 Page 120
MOTORS
PERFECTLY
FORMED It’s the smallest of Mercedes Benz’s three executive saloon, but the latest iteration of the very popular C-Class is perfectly formed, with lots of helpful technology and frugal engines... Words: Rob Davis.
DIAL-UP INTERNET. Betamax Tapes. Music on CDs, house phones and hoover bags... there are few things more certain than death, taxes or the impending obsolesce of the objects we all thought were here to stay. Feeling the heat at the moment is the humble family car. The current generation of the Mercedes C-Class, for example, has sold over 2.5m cars worldwide since its launch in 2014, and even in recent years the car has still sold in volumes of about 50,000 in the UK alone. And yet, with the indomitable rise of the SUV or 4x4, especially in our part of the world – with our shockingly bad road surfaces – buyers are moving towards taller cars with better visibility and greater ground clearance.
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Ford has already announced that its family saloon/hatch/estate – the Mondeo – will not be replaced, or at least it’ll metamorphose into an SUV, and similar cars like the bland Vauxhall Insignia, the BMW 3-Series and Volkswagen’s Passat are now somewhat of an endangered species. But there’s still a case to be made for the compact executive saloon or estate despite their market share being cannibalised by the rise of the SUV, and if you needed more any evidence of that, this is it. Mercedes Benz’s C-Class is pretty much the best compact executive car you can buy. I owned one and it never missed a beat; reliable, comfortable, well-equipped. >>
