so when exactly will the new car be unveiled?

Going by those spy photos of the rear of that finished car, the new C is already in production, but at another plant. If I remember right the C is built in a total of 3 plants????

M

Merc1 is right. It is already in production, maybe not full capacity, but I am sure now that the old C is off the line, the new C will be gearing up. The article says it will be unveiled in a few weeks? Surprise in Detroit? Prob not, since MB as of late has been doing premiers at smaller shows.

As far as production, I know the C is also built in Brazil.

Well, all (good) things must come to an end.......

When the original W203 C-class made its debut in 2000, most people thought it was a very stylish car, resembling the then one year old W220 S-class. Many people said it was a mini-S-class, with many of the safety features of the S-class as standard equipment (ABS, BAS, ESP, tons of airbags, etc).

But the W203 did suffer from electronic glitches, especially during the 1st two years of production (like many 1st year brand new production vehicles with a lot of electronics). It's just that people had higher expectations with a MB product.

Also, although the styling of the W203 was refreshing when it first came out, it aged fairly quickly, especially when compared to the new E90 3 series and B7 A4 which came out. The facelift in 2004/2005 helped quite a bit to freshen the look and the build quality and reliability became very good, as all of the previous "glitches" were worked out. The facelifted interior was a major improvement over the pre-facelift design.

Personally, I always knew the 2006 and 2007 model years were going to be painful for MB, as the brand new 3 series, A4, and Lexus IS all had more modern and exciting styling, which is very important in this segment. MB needs the W204 as soon as possible. I personally think the W204 should have been introduced at least 1 year earlier.

I think the current W203 looks fresher than the new 3 series, especially from the rear. The new 3 series rear already looks dated and it's only a 1-year old design. I think the current facelift design has held up quite well, actually.

The W203 is still a looker, the other night I saw one with the sport pack in white with the Mustang Bullet looking 5-spokes. Looked real good.

I'm in great anticipation of the launch of the W204. Seems like yesterday when I was going to the dealer w/ my Mom to look at the then brand new W203 (would have been her car). Amazing.

This press release and the production numbers are for the Sindelfingen plant only. In 2003, there was a press release (you can find it in worldcarfans.com) about the W203 C-class reaching the 1 million mark production milestone.

Whether other plants (like Breman) are still producing the W203 now is unknown. Regardless, the W203 was the best selling car in MB's lineup ever since it was introduced and outsold the previous W202. But the BMW 3 series is still king in terms of sales and production numbers in this compact entry luxury car segment.

The one million was not just sedans. It included all C class models, wagons, coupe etc.

Thanks for the information PC Valkyrie

I wasn't sure if the article meant total production line or just from that factory, you have clarified that.