The new C-Class has been revealed to an international audience for the first time at Geneva, along with green and racing versions.

The details of the C-Class have already been covered in a recent feature /link . The race car is a 470bhp V8 monster which defending champion Bernd Schneider, 2006 runner-up Bruno Spengler, twice F1 title holder Mika Hakkinen and young British driver Jamie Green will be racing in this year's German Touring Car Masters (DTM) championship.

The green car is the Vision C 220 Bluetec, which uses similar technology to that found in the Vision GL 420 Bluetec displayed at Detroit (see separate story ). Bluetec has been developed to reduce emissions from diesel engines - particularly oxides of nitrogen , which are the only pollutants that diesels continue to pump out in greater quantities than petrol engines do.

With this car, Mercedes is on its way to meeting the Euro IV emissions regulations, which do not come into force until 2015. The Vision C 220 doesn't go that far, but it's efficient enough to achieve 51.3mpg on the combined EU fuel economy cycle.

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Source: [url=http://www.carkeys.co.uk/news/2007/march/07/12624.asp]CARkeys[/url]