Photo: Mercedes-Benz
As it’s often the case with German automakers, year-over-year pricing increases shouldn’t come as a surprise. But Mercedes-Benz decided to add $3,550 to the CLA Coupe, all-new from the ground up for 2020, translating to a starting price of $37,645 after the $995 destination charge.
That’s “$7,745 more than when the first CLA arrived back in 2014” according to Cars Direct, which goes to show how much the times are a-changin’ in the automotive industry. What comes as a surprise, however, is that the A-Class Sedan A 220 is $3,850 less.
Adding the Multimedia Package and Premium Package to the configuration pushes the price past $42,000, which is C-Class Sedan C 300 territory. Even though it’s older and not as premium as the CLA, the BMW 2 Series 230i for 2020 will set you back $36,295 while offering more bang for the buck and a more powerful four-cylinder engine.
There’s no denying that Mercedes-Benz has pushed the CLA a bit too high up the food chain, a decision that might backfire if you remember that sedans and coupe-styled sedans can’t compete with the demand for crossovers and SUVs. Even in AMG flavor, the CLA is a hard sell in the United States and pretty much elsewhere in the world.
Let’s look through the numbers, shall we? Over in Europe, the compact model couldn’t do better than 58,522 examples in 2018, down from 64,086 and 65,810 in the previous years. The U.S. accounted for 22,556 units last year, up from 20,669 in 2017 but down from 25,792 and 29,643 in 2016 and 2015.
If you go through the Mercedes-Benz configurator for the CLA in the United States, the 2019 model year is still listed with a starting price of $33,100 excluding destination charge for the 250. The 250 4Matic and 45 4Matic are also available, selling for $35,100 and $53,100 in this part of the world.
As long as you can’t do without a Merc, the A-Class Sedan would be the better pick given the pricing advantage and more practical packaging.
Adding the Multimedia Package and Premium Package to the configuration pushes the price past $42,000, which is C-Class Sedan C 300 territory. Even though it’s older and not as premium as the CLA, the BMW 2 Series 230i for 2020 will set you back $36,295 while offering more bang for the buck and a more powerful four-cylinder engine.
There’s no denying that Mercedes-Benz has pushed the CLA a bit too high up the food chain, a decision that might backfire if you remember that sedans and coupe-styled sedans can’t compete with the demand for crossovers and SUVs. Even in AMG flavor, the CLA is a hard sell in the United States and pretty much elsewhere in the world.
Let’s look through the numbers, shall we? Over in Europe, the compact model couldn’t do better than 58,522 examples in 2018, down from 64,086 and 65,810 in the previous years. The U.S. accounted for 22,556 units last year, up from 20,669 in 2017 but down from 25,792 and 29,643 in 2016 and 2015.
If you go through the Mercedes-Benz configurator for the CLA in the United States, the 2019 model year is still listed with a starting price of $33,100 excluding destination charge for the 250. The 250 4Matic and 45 4Matic are also available, selling for $35,100 and $53,100 in this part of the world.
As long as you can’t do without a Merc, the A-Class Sedan would be the better pick given the pricing advantage and more practical packaging.
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