Rumors: Industry Report–Mercedes-Benz Planning New Entry Level E-Class?

A recent report on Car and Driver indicates that Mercedes-Benz could be planning a new entry level E-Class sedan–likely to be called the E300–for launch in the United States. Currently, the cheapest variant of the US E-Class is the E350, which will run you $50,490 according to the company’s website. That makes the least expensive E-Class significantly more expensive than entry level vehicles from BMW or Audi–a base model BMW 528i is $46,900, and it’s $41,700 for an Audi A6.

Mercedes-Benz recently launched an E300 model in Canda at the beginning of this year, and should it arrive here, the US version could feature a detuned version of the same 3.5-liter V-6 that sees action in the current E350 and the Canadian E300. Power in the E300 could also be routed to all four wheels via Mercedes-Benz’s 4Matic system. There’s no definitive word on power output or expected arrival date, but filling the market space below the E350 with sub-$50,000 vehicle could help Mercedes-Benz not only take sales away from its rivals, but give the company room to move the E350 even further upmarket.