New Mercedes C-Class Estate 2014 spied

New Mercedes C-Class Estate 2014 spotted in minimal camouflage, release date expected later this year

The new Mercedes C-Class Estate 2014 is edging closer to production ahead of an official debut later this year, appearing in Stuttgart recently wearing practically no camouflage.

It’s the third time our spies have caught the BMW 3-Series Touring and Audi A4 Avant rival out testing, and there’s now only minimal disguise on the sides and back, giving us an even better idea of how it’ll look.

At the rear, the estate gains a spoiler – mounted to the top of the bootlid – and features a slightly lower, more pronounced bumper. This also means styling lines from the flanks flow into a sharper crease on the estate, which runs across the bottom of the bootlid.

The main difference looks set to be the taillights though. These are still under cover currently, but they clearly sit at less of an angle than on the coupe, and wraparound onto the boot as well. This likewise helps distinguish the C-Class Estate’s rear from its predecessor.

From the front, the estate looks almost identical to the coupe, although in these pictures it’s wearing a luxury-look front end that won’t be available in the UK. The sweptback headlights and bonnet are the same, but over here the grille will feature two distinct horizontal bars that merge seamlessly into a large centralMercedes badge.

The lower front bumper is also slightly different, and as with the coupe the styling is heavily influenced by the A-Class and CLA. 

A range of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines will be offered for the C-Class Estate, and a more performance-focused V6 is expected. A new MRA modular platform has also allowed Mercedes to reduce kerbweight and improve dynamics, allowing engineers to fit right-hand-drive models with 4Matic four-wheel-drive for the first time.

Boot space is expected to be in excess of 500 litres for the new estate, an increase on the current model’s 485 litres, although product manager Iris Schleicher has previously told Auto Express: “We tried to make the new wagon look like more of a lifestyle car, more stylish. It’s bigger, too, but we’re trying to ensure it doesn’t look as practical as it is.” 

Prices for the new C-Class Estate are expected to rise slightly over the current model, kicking off from around £29,000.