The Other Other Benz: 2012 Volkswagen CC

One of the best niche body styles out there has to be the four-door coupe. First invented by Mercedes back in 2004, the idea was to make a car that looks as elegant as the CL but gives it the practicality and comfort of the E-Class and the resulting car was dubbed the CLS.

There have been others since from Team Germany such as the Audi A7 and the up and coming BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe. They're great if you have executive car money but what if you're bored of your humble Passat? The people's car manufacturer had this problem in mind when they created the Passat CC back in 2008 and now there's a new one. This time they've ditched the 'P' word for us in the UK to give it a touch more "swag juice".

Not only has the name changed, but so have the looks. Like the previous car, it takes the same design language as the new Passat such as the horizontal chrome lines on the grille, new bumpers and LED rear lights but packaged to look much better overall. The interior will be the same as the current European Passat with the only obvious difference being the lower roof. Unlike the previous car this one will come with three rear seats to offer better practicality.

There's a choice of four engines with the new CC; a 1.8L TSI, a 2.0L TSI producing 162bhp and 213bhp and two 2.0L TDI BlueMotion diesels with either 142bhp or 172bhp and will all of them you can choose between a manual or DSG gearbox.

Standard equipment includes sat-nav, DAB radio, Bluetooth, iPod socket, 17" alloys, a brake energy recuperation system and ESP. GT models add leather upholstery, heated front seats, adaptive chassis control, cruise control, parking sensors all round and 18" alloys. Optional equipment includes a more advanced adaptive cruise control that virtually clings on to the car in front and maintains its speed as well as blind spot monitors, rear view camera and massage seats.

The best bit is the price. The standard 1.8TSI CC starts at £24,200 with the highest spec CC GT diesel priced at £30,100. Like-for-like, that's around half the price of the CLS and Audi A7. What about the smaller Audi A5 Sportback though? That's a four-door coupe at a similar starting price, has a better interior and a better badge. Optioned up however, the Audi will rocket up in price. Leaving a nice gap in the market for the Volkswagen CC to power through. In the words of Kanye West, this could be VW's best "Other Other Benz" yet...