It might not be one of the most glamorous cars of the show, but it’s certainly one of the most important, and one of the most impressive—the all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

The security of its future might be judged by the fact that since order books opened in Europe in January, more than 55,000 have already been ordered. Oh, and its predecessor sold more than two million cars during its production run.

Fact is, the C-Class is right at the heart of the three-pointed star’s range, it is as close as you might get to a world car, from taxi-rank to junior boardroom, and it really doesn’t have too much that says it can’t sell another two million by the time another one comes along. In short, the C-Class is iconic, and this looks like a very, very good C-Class.

There’s one slightly confusing bit in the fact that it has two “faces”—with Elegance and Classic versions continuing to carry the star on the hood and the Avantgarde echoing the sportiest Mercedes by adopting a large version in the center of the grille, but they both look pretty good, as almost every current Mercedes does, in fact.

And while there are just vague suggestions of BMW 3-Series in the strong, rising side crease and rear quarter shape from some angles, it’s a very strong part of the Mercedes family. They also say prices will start from below €30,000 (around $40,000) in some European markets, so although they’ve piled on the premium design, engineering and content cues, they haven’t completely lost touch with the bedrock—and maybe even the holiday airport taxi market.

And like so many other Geneva unveils today, it plays the environmentally friendly card, with best-in-class aerodynamics, fairly modest weight increases, and a new engine range that in general has managed to increase performance while reducing consumption and emissions.

Quantifying that, they say that cutting CO₂ emissions across the vehicle’s entire life cycle, including production, by 15 percent represents a whole life CO₂ saving of 9 tons per car. As an example, they say the new C200 Kompressor uses half a liter less fuel per 100 km even though it has more power and torque.

Efficient Engines

And they promise even bigger savings with the other big story of the afternoon—Mercedes’ second-generation direct-injection gasoline engines, as already seen in the CLS350 CGI, and about to appear in the E-Class. For this, they claim increases of 20 horsepower, but a fuel saving of around ten percent compared with the 3.5-liter V6 with conventional injection.

Then to finish the message, they talked diesel. The latest four-cylinder C220 CDI has 20 more horsepower, but drinks 0.3 liters less per 100 km. But beyond even that, they have the second stage of their clean diesel strategy, labeled Bluetec, and aimed first of all specifically at the U.S. where low-sulfur diesel was introduced in October 2006 to a nation that traditionally still thinks diesel is for trucks only, and cars run on gasoline.

Mercedes expects to sell more than 12,000 CDI cars in the U.S. in 2007, and in 2008 they promise three more Bluetec models for that market, certified for all 50 states—as well as bringing Bluetec to Europe in 2008. Oh, and they are developing a four-cylinder Bluetec engine with 170 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque from just 2.2 liters, and getting 42 miles per gallon. And to show it off, they wheeled out the Vision C220 Bluetec, promising that very engine and, they say, is already on its way to production reality.

The cleanest diesel-powered C-Class ever, they say. Very impressive indeed, we say…