Seven new models from Mercedes in 2008 - Introduction

Mercedes is planning a new-model assault next year, including one new car, revisions to six others and one that UK buyers are being denied.

The new CLC-Class three-door sits at the bottom of the C-Class range, replacing the old C-Class Sports Coupe.

Although the look of the car and the interior are both lifted from the new C-Class, the CLC is actually based on the old C-Class' underpinnings, not the new model, meaning it remains compact in size, but gains in length due to its styling.

However, interior space of the three-door car is still reasonable.

It looks more like a coupe, too, with more than a thousand changes needed to transform the Sports Coupe into the CLC.

Prices should be similar to the Sports Coupe when the car goes on sale in early summer.

Face-lifts aplenty
Next year's A-, B-, CLS, SLK- and M-Class buyers will all benefit from 'blink and you've missed it' face-lifts.

All of the revised models get a new grille, bumper, light and mirror treatments on the outside, as well as interior tweaks which include new steering wheels, revised instruments and upgraded telematic entertainment and information packages.

The revised SLK will arrive in March, followed by the CLS, A- and B-Class ranges in July, with the new M-Class going on sale in the autumn