Mercedes' Massive Grille Makes Appearance On New Coupe Concept

But that design, like it or not, is the future of Mercedes' design language, and will soon find itself on the next-generation C-Class, and perhaps a new luxury coupe. We've already been given a glimpse of the new C-Class, but we've now got our first look at a new electric coupe courtesy of a few social media posts from Mercedes' design chief, Gorden Wagener.

A Coupe That Looks Like An Audi?
Starting last week, Wagener started posting old photos of the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Coupe and Cabriolet concepts. But then this past Friday, he suggested that something new could arrive in a similar vein, with a blurry image of hands sketching a new coupe and a simple caption: "Blurred lines, sharp ideas. Seems like there might be something new in the making."

This was followed by another, this time showing the rear haunches of a coupe with a rounded bubble-like roof, what appears to be a rear-hinged coach door, and vertical fender slats, with the caption "The shape of things to come." The curves on this look familiar, but not to Mercedes. Instead, they look like they might've been penned by Audi. Is Mercedes planning a rival to the new TT, previewed by the Audi Concept C?

Probably not. After all, the rounded glasshouse was present in a Mercedes coupe long before the TT ever existed, with the Mercedes 300SL Gullwing sporting similar shapes.

Bringing Back The S-Class Coupe Seems Most Likely
In the latest teaser post, we're treated to two images. The first showcases a grille influenced by the aforementioned GLC-Class on a front end shrouded in shadows, punctuated by three-pointed star headlight motifs. At first glance, you might mistake this for another C-Class teaser, but the reality is this is something else.

The grille, for example, is much taller, more prominent, more stately. And then there's what stands above the grille, an illuminated three-pointed star absent from the C-Class teaser. It's a Mercedes signature that has fallen out of favor on lesser models, but is still prevalent on one particular model line: the S-Class.

The car we're looking at is definitely a coupe - that much is obvious from the first teaser. But the size and prominence of the grille, plus the standing three-pointed star hood ornament, suggest Mercedes may be looking to revive the S-Class Coupe, which was killed off at the end of the 2021 model year. It's clear Wagener has drawn inspiration from the Maybach 6 Coupe concept - referred to as "the most beautiful car ever created" by Wagener in one of his earlier Instagram posts - but the absence of a Maybach logo, and the horizontal orientation of the grille mean this is clearly a normal Mercedes, and not a Maybach variant.

With a teaser campaign officially underway, we likely won't have long to wait to see the coupe in all its glory. Whether it's production-ready or a concept, though, is another question entirely, one we hope to have the answer to soon.