BMW X3 vs Mercedes-Benz C-Class [2014-2018]

The new X3 is a great buy in its own right, yes, but not the default choice in the segment. Why? Read our first drive review to find out.

The C43 is Mercedes-AMG’s answer to a more performance oriented C-Class. While this model finds its place below the C63 AMG S in the current C-Class influenced AMG line-up in India, it slots above the CLA45 AMG. Sure, the latter comes close to the C43 AMG in terms of price and power output, but the C43 AMG makes a case for itself since it’s a part of the C-Class family, which is a cut above.

Well, when Mercedes-Benz actually announced the car, we didn’t really know where the C 43 would slot in considering the C 63 AMG S already exists and below it sits the CLA 45 AMG. While the rear wheel drive C 63 sits at the top with 500 plus bhp and a pricing upwards of one crore, the CLA 45 AMG was many a rungs lower and in its current ‘yet to be updated’ trim makes 355bhp with the power being transferred to all four wheels. Now, we have the C 43 that makes 362bhp and gets 4MATIC as well. Mercedes-Benz already has the most performance-oriented models in their Indian line-up and the C 43 just adds to it. While that’s one of the reasons we saw for its introduction, the other could be customer demanding a more powerful C-Class but not wanting to spend upwards of a crore for it.