Benz Doubles Up On Fuel Efficient Product Lines

Mercedes-Benz is following in the footsteps of Audi and BMW with a new range of extra fuel efficient vehicles dubbed FE Line and BlueEFFICIENCY, both of which will make their debuts at the upcoming Geneva motor show.

The FE Line (FE stands for Fuel Efficiency, by the way) will consist of two different cars, the C220 CDI and the A160 CDI. Both cars have gone through extensive analysis to shed weight and optimize performance to reduce CO2 and fuel consumption through extra low rolling resistance tires, smaller fuel tanks, thinner glass, and lighter gearboxes. In the case of the A-Class, this accounts for a net increase of 1 mpg in fuel economy and also happens to equate to an 0.62 oz/mi decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. That may not sound like much, but it’s enough to drop the A-Class into a lower tax bracket in many European cities such as London, meaning it’ll be cheaper to run.

The second lineup of green cars is BlueEFFICIENCY, which focuses on making the C-Class a more fuel conscious automobile and is available on three different engine models, two of which are gasoline powered. They include the C180 Kompressor (supercharged I-4), the C200 CDI and the C350 CGI (direct injection). These models feature a net fuel consumption reduction of between 10- and 12-percent thanks to a variety of internal and external changes, many of which are similar to FE Line cars. BlueEFFICIENCY vehicles offer a bit more in the way of aerodynamic enhancements, including new grilles, sealed seams on the vehicles’ front ends, smooth underbody panels and ride height drops of up to 0.6 inches to improve airflow.

These changes may not yield the same major difference in fuel economy as a hybrid system, but over the long run they most certainly count. Perhaps soon Mercedes-Benz will add E- and S-Class models to the ranks of its FE Line and BlueEFFICIENCY vehicles.