Photo: X-Tomi Design
The all-new CLS-Class will do many things for Mercedes-Benz: attract a different type of customer, be more comfortable and tech-savvy. However, it won't have a Shooting Brake version for those looking to arrive at Ikea in style.
It's a shame. This rendering from X-Tomi Design arrives only a day after the official debut and shows the potential of this car. It would be sexy, spacious and special.
Shooting Brake renderings are common occurrences; only last week, we showed you one for the new Aston Martin Vantage. However, this situation is unique. Usually, we talk about how companies don't have the vision to make these cars. But Mercedes did, and the car didn't sell well. That's why it and the CLA Shooting Brake are being discontinued.
What's even weirder is that Mercedes secretly put together a 2019 CLS Shooting Brake mockup. The design was approved by Stuttgart two years ago, and it was apparently brilliant. However, management canceled the project, citing that nobody wanted such a car in the all-important North American and Chinese markets.
The CLS is underpinned by the E-Class model, but engineers say it's both more dynamic and more comfortable, depending on which driving mode you engage. So the Shooting Brake would have been better than the E-Class T-Model... except in two key areas.
The first is obviously space. In fact, the E-Class wagon can't be matched by anything in the segment. But without the availability of a V8 engine, the CLS Shooting Brake would also have looked lackluster compared to the 612 HP E63 S load lugger.
You could blame electric vehicles for sucking up all the development money, but we believe all the German carmakers are worried about the global economy. China isn't booming, Russia is terminal, and the Middle East isn't as rich as it used to be. More exclusive Mercs? Yes, but only if they have portal axles and cost half a million.
Shooting Brake renderings are common occurrences; only last week, we showed you one for the new Aston Martin Vantage. However, this situation is unique. Usually, we talk about how companies don't have the vision to make these cars. But Mercedes did, and the car didn't sell well. That's why it and the CLA Shooting Brake are being discontinued.
What's even weirder is that Mercedes secretly put together a 2019 CLS Shooting Brake mockup. The design was approved by Stuttgart two years ago, and it was apparently brilliant. However, management canceled the project, citing that nobody wanted such a car in the all-important North American and Chinese markets.
The CLS is underpinned by the E-Class model, but engineers say it's both more dynamic and more comfortable, depending on which driving mode you engage. So the Shooting Brake would have been better than the E-Class T-Model... except in two key areas.
The first is obviously space. In fact, the E-Class wagon can't be matched by anything in the segment. But without the availability of a V8 engine, the CLS Shooting Brake would also have looked lackluster compared to the 612 HP E63 S load lugger.
You could blame electric vehicles for sucking up all the development money, but we believe all the German carmakers are worried about the global economy. China isn't booming, Russia is terminal, and the Middle East isn't as rich as it used to be. More exclusive Mercs? Yes, but only if they have portal axles and cost half a million.
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