By Mercedes Benz introduced the fifth generation of C Class a couple of years ago in the Indian market and it was available in two diesel and a single petrol engine option. Now the German manufacturer is planning to replace the range-topping C300d diesel model with C300 petrol. According to Santosh Iyer, CEO and managing director, of Mercedes-Benz India, “Diesel demand is shrinking, especially in cities like Delhi-NCR. I think it is driven more by fear than a rational reason, but there’s an increased preference for petrol among customers.”
This shift in demand is more evident in the sedan segment as Iyer said “We see almost 70 per cent are petrol, but for SUVs, it’s diesel that makes up the majority 60 per cent. So, it’s different depending on the segment.” The C Class is extremely popular in metro cities and customers in this region prefer petrol models over diesel, which is also one more reason for the company to make this decision. But the C300d in AMG line trim is popular in other cities and especially in South Indian markets.
The C300 petrol will be powered by a 2.0 L turbo petrol engine with a mild-hybrid engine producing 258 bhp of power along with 23 bhp additional power with a mild-hybrid system and 400 Nm of torque. This engine is mated to a 9-speed automatic gearbox. 0-100 kph comes up in 6 sec which is slower than the outgoing diesel model as it reaches the 100 kph from stand still in 5.7 sec. Mercedes will also increase ground clearance for the new variant and the pricing is expected to be similar to the outgoing diesel variant.
