MOCAŠ
MB Enthusiast
There are a number of justifications for it. In my opinion, the A and B Classes are cars in their own right (particularly the A Class, which originally was developed from scratch on its own independent platform), and they are/were built in Germany - all of which gives these cars credibility within the range, although of course the A and B both have more than their fair share of detractors.
The Sportcoupe/CLC, on the other hand, can be seen as a cynical exercise to wring some extra sales from the C Class platform, and some feel it has a strong sense of style-over-substance about it. Then there's its technical merits; a sporting version of a car would normally be positioned above the car on which it is based, and would be seen as drawing custom to the whole range through reflected glory; yet the Sportcoupe/CLC was defiantly placed below the saloon/estate models (as has been pointed out, no C55/63 versions).
That said, it wouldn't be the first car that had traded on its looks at the expense of its character/performance, but even here it somehow falls between two stools. I've never really felt that the front and back ends of the car have been properly introduced to each other, and when viewed without rose-tinted spectacles, it can be mistaken for a slightly distorted version of any number of euro-hatches - I sometimes see something of the original Citroën Xsara about it, albeit with a Mercedes-Benz front grafted on.
Then there's the build quality. Although the original article in this thread seems harshly worded, there is a feeling about the coupe that it was built down to a price, and one has to conclude that this is simply because it was. I can't speak for the CLC in this respect, but I did spend some time poring over its predecessor while I was waiting at my dealership while my car was being MoT'd one day, and it felt very mainstream. I also found that the panel attached to the back of the driver's seat started to come away as I was getting out of the back seat; not good, especially on a brand new car.
Finally, in those markets where the A and B class are not (yet) offered, it actually is MB's entry level model, whereas that role really ought to fall to the C Class saloon. One of those markets is the US, where it really is seen as the type of car that fathers buy for their teenage daughters (hence my previous "college" comment).
] will spawn a sports coupe derivative which will perhaps fill the MB sporty/entry level niche. 
It will be FWD like the previous A and B class because its yields the highest utilisation of passenger compartment space in a small vehicle. This, and its "mass produced origins" may be enough to put some folks off but I would wait and see what they come up with. 
The W203 C CLASS coupe or lattery CLC was I feel a direct response to BMW's original and very successful ONE series which was simply a 3 series with a hatch instead of a boot [ and cheap rear suspension also iirc] As such it was a better looking attempt than BMW's although neither were going to win any beauty contests.
) .... however, the price tag made it impossible to justify i would imagine, i'd love to know how many they made, and where the nearest is to me, just so i can go take a look 
I bet it costs a fortune but to me that is the ultimate hot hatch, It looks special but not in your face and i bet it would really upset a few supercar owners. Having said that most of what would be its rivals are all gettin close to 50k before extras now.
