2015 Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake

The new Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake has been revealed, and is shown here in a series of official pictures for the first time. The Shooting Brake, just like the standard CLA four-door coupe, has an elegant front end with a long bonnet and wide, single-bar front grille and is the final new body style to be based on the company’s front-drive architecture.

Despite the dramatic curves of the tailgate and the swooping roofline, the seats-up load capacity of the 4.6m-long Shooting Brake improves on that of the CLA saloon by 25 litres, at 495 litres. The rear seats can also be bolted in a more upright position, adding a further 100 litres to the boot capacity or the capacity can be raise up to 1354 litres with the rear seats folded.  Both models measure the same length and also share the same 2,699mm wheelbase, with the only visual changes starting from the B-pillar.

Rear passenger space is also more generous. Product marketing manager for the CLA, Jan Paul Rubens, said the biggest criticism of the coupe concerned its practicality. “Everyone loved the car, but feedback told us customers wanted more space inside,” he explained. “Because the Shooting Brake has 41mm more headroom than the coupe, we expected to see people downsize to the CLA from larger cars.”

The decision to put this body style into production arguably gives Mercedes a handy advantage over its rivals in the premium compact market, because neither the Audi A3 nor the BMW 1-series offers anything similar. On the downside, however, Mercedes was late to market with a compact SUV model.

Six engines will be available from launch, including:

CLA 200 CDI Shooting Brake  – 134bhp 2.1-litre, from 101g/km CO2
CLA 220 CDI Shooting Brake  – 175bhp 2.1-litre, from 105g/km CO2
CLA 180 Shooting Brake – 120bhp 1.6-litre, from 128g/km CO2
CLA 200 Shooting Brake – 154bhp 1.6-litre, from 130g/km CO2
CLA 250 Shooting Brake – 208bhp 2.0-litre, from 128g/km CO2
CLA 45 AMG Shooting Brake  – 355bhp 2.0-litre, 161g/km CO2

Engines are minutely less efficient than the saloon, due to the slight kerbweight increase and the drag coefficent dropping from 0.22 to 0.26 Cd.

Engine options will remain largely the same as the coupe, with two exceptions. The four-wheel drive 208bhp 250 4MATIC model will only be offered as an ‘Engineered by AMG’ version, while a new 220 CDI 4MATIC will launch on the Shooting Brake and follow on the coupe, arriving in September next year.

Like the saloon, four trim levels are available:
– Sport,
– AMG Sport,
– Engineered by AMG,
– AMG.
Mercedes is also releasing a special ‘Orange Art’ edition with bright orange detailing inside and out.

Standard equipment remains broadly similar to the CLA saloon, with the addition of an electric tailgate as standard and the option of a load compartment package, which includes a lockable boot floor, 12V socket and aluminium load rails. The new CLA Shooting Brake should demand a £1,000 premium over the coupe, meaning it will start from around £25,700, rising to just over £43,000 for the CLA 45 AMG version. The Shooting Brake will be on sale from January 2015.