As Mercedes-Benz hosts the South African launch of the new CLA sports sedan in the Western Cape today, we hear sources close to the Stuttgart-based manufacturer say a station wagon version of the compact CLA is in the works for 2015. As per their naming convention, sources say Mercedes-Benz will call it the CLA Shooting Brake. So it’s a station wagon version of the four-door sedan that uses the A/B-Class hatchback platform originally. Got it? Good.
While the larger Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake had its fans amongst motoring journalists and niche consumers, even Mercedes-Benz will admit the shooting brake concept is far from reaching wholesale adoption. But in the way the CLS Shooting Brake arrived to flank the four-door coupe concept of the CLS, so will the CLA with regard to the CLA Shooting Brake. This will become the fifth three-point star-badged vehicle to use the Mercedes’ compact front-wheel drive platform, joining the A-Class, B-Class, CLA sedan and the GLA crossover.
The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake will make the compact CLA just that much more practical and add some much-needed head room and storage space at the back, without losing its distinctive swooping shape. The CLA Shooting Brake will no doubt be offered in an array of specifications similar to the regular CLA-Class, except we should see a CLA 45 Shooting Brake AMG too.
Featuring the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder producing the most power-per-litre of any engine in the world, 270 kW is harnessed through 4Matic four-wheel drive system for a piece of AMG engineering like no other in the world. It’s hard to say whether the Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake model will be offered in the S.A. where demand for station wagon models is much lower than in Europe.
