Hot! Mercedes-Benz, What's Next?

[Design FIRST]

Yeah, this profile makes the EQS look good...

... had it been a three-box saloon style, they might have been on to something.

Devoid of the LIDAR cowl and the shiny front fender trimpiece, the clean surfacing of the sheetmetal is quite alright. But that side profile silhouette needs a generous dose of "A-Pillar bases, cabin moved rearwards" medicine. As presented here in the photo, it looks very odd indeed. And yet...it somehow dates the W223 Maybach, relegating it to the ranks of "old school".

 

[Design FIRST]

Devoid of the LIDAR cowl and the shiny front fender trimpiece, the clean surfacing of the sheetmetal is quite alright. But that side profile silhouette needs a generous dose of "A-Pillar bases, cabin moved rearwards" medicine. As presented here in the photo, it looks very odd indeed. And yet...it somehow dates the W223 Maybach, relegating it to the ranks of "old school".

...or I should say V223.

 

[Design FIRST]

...appears to be an AMG version of the upcoming C-Class EQ sedan:

 

[leylandi]

The key feature of this car will be the taillights. I hope they don't mess it up.

 

[Dopebouy]

...appears to be an AMG version of the upcoming C-Class EQ sedan:

Is the W206 Facelift verified to have the M256M in the C53 & upcoming V8 in the Facelift C63 yet?

 

[Uygar]

Lol, it's ridiculous to compare it to the 7 Series. That Maextro must be the worst piece of junk I've ever seen in terms of exterior design in this segment. Its proportions are awful and the interior is a hodgepodge copied from five different cars. Seriously, did you even look at its profile?

What a tremendous, deformed piece of shit

There’s nothing wrong looking with that side profile. It’s such a safe, almost bland design. If the rear end was more pronounced and sedan-like it would be even better but still, I think it looks totally fine.

 

[Uygar]

...appears to be an AMG version of the upcoming C-Class EQ sedan:

Looks really good from this angle actually.

 

[Uygar]

The key feature of this car will be the taillights. I hope they don't mess it up.

Pretty much the same with GLC, just with slightly different graphics. Apparently facelifted GLE and GLS are also getting the same design taillights instead of 2 separate ones.

 

[leylandi]

The Mercedes-Benz CLA wins the 2026 The Car of the Year award

The German model wins in Brussels in the final vote with 320 points and takes the crown from the Renault 5 E-Tech as The Car Of The Year.

The German model wins in Brussels in the final vote with 320 points and takes the crown from the Renault 5 E-Tech as The Car Of The Year.

Europe has chosen its king. The Mercedes-Benz CLA has become The Car Of The Year 2026. At a gala held today at the Brussels International Motor Show, in a Eurovision-style vote, the 59 members of The Car of the Year award Jury delivered their verdict, choosing the new “king” of the European car market. The Car Of The Year award celebrates its 63rd edition this year and has done so by returning a premium brand to the top.

The Mercedes-Benz CLA has been crowned the best European car, beating six other contenders in the final: the Citroën C5 Aircross, Dacia Bigster, Fiat Grande Panda, Kia EV4, Renault 4 and Škoda Elroq.

This year's edition was more competitive than ever, given that all the finalist models had electrified features, and most of them were 100% electric.

With this victory, the Mercedes CLA takes over from the Renault 5 E-Tech, which won the top continental award last season. This is the second time in the history of Mercedes-Benz and the 62-year history of The Car Of The Year that the German brand has won the coveted trophy. The last time it won was in 1974 with the Mercedes-Benz 450 SE/SEL. That was 52 years ago.

The award ceremony, which took place at midday, was presented by British journalist Vicky Parrott, accompanied by the President of the Jury, Søren W. Rasmussen (Denmark), and the president of the Organizing Committee, Alberto Sabbatini (Italy).

After the verdict of the 23 countries and 59 jurors was announced, the Mercedes CLA was the most voted model, and therefore the new Car of the Year, with 320 points, beating the Škoda Elroq, which scored 220 points, followed by the Kia EV4 with 208 points. Fourth place went to the Citroën C5 Aircross with 207 points, followed by the Fiat Grande Panda with 200 points. Sixth place went to the Dacia Bigster with 170 points and seventh to the Renault 4 with 150 points.

The Mercedes-Benz CLA was the model that received the most first places from the judges, with 22, while the Citroën C5 Aircross was the favourite of 15 journalists on the jury. The third most popular model was the Fiat Grande Panda, with 9 first places, followed by the Škoda Elroq with 8. The Kia EV4 was the car that received the highest ratings from two jurors, while none of them chose the Renault 4 this year (which suffered from being the successor to last year's winner, the Renault 5 E-Tech, and the 2024 winner, the Renault Scénic).