Mercedes’ bolder styling targeting young
Spear-headed by the coupe-style compact, half of the CLA’s European sales have been conquests. In the United States, 80% of CLA customers are from rival car-makers. The average age of a CLA buyer is 43, compared to 50 or older for the rest of Mercedes’ line-up.
Mercedes design boss, Gorden Wagener, is spearheading the reform, not only changing the age profile, but redefining Mercedes’ styling with cars such as the CLA, GLA, C class, S class and S-class coupe. Wagener said about Mercedes’ Sensual Purity design ethos: “For every new car, you see another piece of the puzzle coming together. These are the fruits from what we established, after I took over. I created a whole new design philosophy, which affects the entire brand.
“It’s not only about design; it also defines what the brand should stand for in the future. We set some guidelines that define our philosophy, Sensual Purity, which is equivalent to modern luxury.”
Wagener said the new C class best showcases the company’s new design language.
“There’s only a single line on that car. Other than that, it’s pure, clean, sheer-surfacing. We have our signature line, the dropping line in the side, which comes out of the headlight, over the fender and goes toward the rear wheel.
“We’re not doing wedge-shaped cars anymore. Wedge-shape, for me, is kind of late ’90s, a bit dated. We’ve actually been inspired more by 1930s-era streamline design.
“You see a wilder execution on smaller cars, such as the CLA. We want it to be a really progressive, radical young car. We’re seeing new customers in dealerships. We really accomplished our mission to redefine the brand, especially in that segment.
“When you look at the C class, you see a more calm and pure approach — a bit more on the pure side of Sensual Purity. It’s just a slightly different execution. We tried to vary our approach, but we don’t change the language.”
As well as a radical redesign on the outside, changes have also been made inside.
“What’s most important for a luxury brand is being authentic. You have to be authentic in materials and Mercedes always has been.
“There’s no fake wood and, of course, there’s real leather. These are all aspects of traditional luxury. In the C class, there’s also the variety of wood: the invention of open-pore wood and black open-pore wood. Of course, leather will always be leather.
“Look inside the home; you don’t sit on vinyl, right? Some things are simply good. It’s just a matter of getting the quality of the craftsmanship right. Another thing is definitely high-tech and craftsmanship. We try to combine these two worlds, these two opposites. You see that contrast in the S class.”
Wagener predicts that technology will change the car more in the next 15 years than it has in the last 50 years.
“It’s a great opportunity for us, as designers, because a good design is one thing, but good design always goes hand in hand with good technology. Look at Apple. At the moment, we design everything that is on our [in-car] screens, which is a lot.
“Our latest generation of HMI [human-machine interface] for the S class took three years of development, with very close collaboration with the board. Sensual Purity also applies to software design. We try to bring only what is really necessary. You must not forget you’re driving.”
