We don't love the new Mercedes-Benz CLS. It doesn't look as good as the E-Class Coupe, which kind of defeats the purpose of having this kind of four-door over a normal sedan.
The CLS also starts from €60,000 while a good one can cost double that. For those penny pinchers who haven't yet started their own company, Mercedes-Benz is preparing another generation of the CLA-Class, the baby four-door coupe.
It's kind of redundant, considering the A-Class sedan also has a rakish roof. But the CLA will be longer, have better features and hopefully ride like an expensive car. Will it look better as well? Up until this point, the answer to that question would have been a big fat "no." But the latest prototype does at least have LED headlights.
We don't know who Mercedes thinks this car competes with, but it seems a tad smaller than the VW Arteon, though the two share a love for frameless doors. Oh, and before we forget to mention it, the CLA is still based on a front-wheel-drive platform.
Even so, performance versions are planned, and with 300 or 400 horsepower, the AMG-badged CLA models will be able to keep up with a Porsche Cayman. Despite the heavy fog, we can tell that this particular prototype depicts an utterly standard model, though.
Mercedes has just pulled the covers off new 2-liter diesel, which produces 150 and 190 HP, as we expected. The gasoline range will center around the 1.3L with up to 163 HP and the 2.0L with 190 or 224 HP. A bit further down the line (probably in 2020), the CLA will also have plug-in hybrid versions. As for the gearboxes, they will include 7-speed and 8-speed autos with no manual in sight.
For a brief moment, the CLA II also presents its cockpit to the camera. Nobody should be surprised that it has the MBUX system at this moment.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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