According to Dieter Zetsche, Mercedes-Benz AG chairman of the board, the ConceptFascination strongly foreshadows the 2009 Mercedes-Benz design. Characteristics of this design will appear in next year's Mercedes-Benz models.
Translation: This is what the all-new 2009 Mercedes-Benz E-Class will look like.
The work of Gorgen Wagener (that's him up on stage), the new global head of design at Benz and the former head of the company's Irvine, California, studio, the ConceptFascination does more than show the Mercedes' new look. It also hints at an all-new model, the E-Class coupe wagon.
Just as the company's CLS blurred the line between coupe and sedan, the Fascination blurs the line between coupe and wagon. "We want to reinvent the shooting brake (that's wagon in Eurospeak)," Wagener told me after the Benz press conference. "We see an opening for a new niche and we want to claim it as our own concept. We want to combine sportiness with functionality, like in the old days with the Volvo P1800 and others."
Then I asked him if such a vehicle would see production. He wouldn't answer, but his eyes gave it away. This thing is for real. -- Scott Oldham, Inside Line Editor in Chief
felonious says:
06:24 AM, 10/ 2/08
"The work of Gorgen Wagener (that's him up on stage)"
I thought that was a very clever joke, at first. It's really hard to see him in the car! :)
billt9 says:
08:11 AM, 10/ 2/08
Looks great outside. Why is the interior imported from 1980?
ateixeira says:
02:15 PM, 10/ 2/08
Looks interesting...I gotta see it in the flesh to make the final call, though. Hope it makes the US car show round early next year.
hondacura4 says:
07:08 PM, 10/ 2/08
Just something about the way Mercedes finishes a car (exterior).
The interior hopefully will recieve a full redesign as it looks like it was lifted from my uncles 1989 300TE wagon.