2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Class test mule caught in action

This mysterious Mercedes-Benz C-Class in disguise spotted by our spy photographers in Europe could in fact be an early-stage mule for the 2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Class instead. 

Look closely and you will see that this car is not only wider thanks to its pumped-up guards, but also longer even than the Chinese-market C-Class long-wheelbase. 

It seems, then, that this test mule sits on an even more stretched wheelbase, evident in the longer gap between the front door and wheel arch.

Given the new E-Class will be spun-off a variation of the 2014 C-Class’s MRA lightweight modular rear-drive platform, and given that car is due around 2016, speculation that this is an E-Class architecture cloaked in a stretched C-Class body is justifiably rife. 

Mercedes-Benz is also understood to be looking into a four-door coupe version of the C-Class to fit between the CLA and CLS that could theoretically sit on a longer wheelbase. But the development timeline for that car would suggest a proper-bodied mule should be up-and-running by now.

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