GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake debuts

Style over substance remains the hallmark of the Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake, the second generation of which made its debut at the Geneva motor show today.

While the redesigned four-door CLA 'Coupe' is confirmed for Australian release in the second half of this year, the wagon version won’t be joining it Down Under this time round.

“Considering [CLA] Shooting Brake volumes over the life of the current generation, the business case didn't stack up to launch that body style for the new model, “said Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific Media Relations & Product Communications Manager, Ryan Lewis.

Nevertheless, apart from its design, Benz has also focused on the sporty nature of the 2019 CLA Shooting Brake, even though it runs the same powertrains as the standard A-Class hatchback.

That means it will be driven by a pair of 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol engines and a 1.5-litre turbo-diesel four, with the entire line-up headed by the CLA 250’s 165kW, 350Nm 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine.

While the CLA 250 Shooting Brake will run a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, Benz insists there will be a wide range of transmissions available, including manual gearboxes, and it will be produced in both front- and all-wheel drive forms.

There’s also the certainty that Mercedes-AMG will follow with a warmer CLA 35 Shooting Brake at some point, borrowing the A 35’s version of the 2.0-litre turbo motor.

With 225kW of power between 5800 and 6100rpm, the upcoming CLA 35’s engine will throw the Shooting Brake to 100km/h in less than five seconds in standard trim.

Most of its physical dimensions are a step up over its predecessor, with the 2mm drop in height being the only exception.

At 4688mm, it’s 48mm longer than the first generation, while its width measurement of 1830mm is 53mm up on the first car.

Critically, its wheelbase jumps 30mm to 2729mm, while the both the front (63mm) and the rear (55mm) track width have also grown.

The biggest jump is in the cargo area’s loading width, which has jumped 236mm to 871mm, while the luggage capacity grows 10 litres to 505 litres.

All that means basically bugger all for people riding inside the new CLA Shooting Brake.

Rear headroom rises an enormous, err, 8mm. The rear-end takes the 30mm growth in the wheelbase and turns it into just a single millimetre of added legroom. It’s the same on every other measurement. A centimetre here, a few millimetres there, but no significant boosts to the space.

"We want to address young individualists with the particularly expressive design of the CLA Coupé and CLA Shooting Brake,” Mercedes-Benz’s board member for sales, Britta Seeger, said.

“Furthermore, the new CLA Shooting Brake offers more space than its predecessor – for sports equipment and much more.”

Still, Benz is betting on people not coming to the Shooting Brake for its practicality, but for its style and, surprisingly, its athleticism.

The big jump in track widths, as well as a drop in the centre of gravity, have filled Benz with confidence that its handling will be much improved.

It also scores a four-link independent rear suspension, along with acoustic control arms that use hydromounts at the front and simply decouple the vibrations at the rear.

There’s an adaptive-damping system as an option on all models, with two stages for comfort and dynamic handling.

The standard rims range from 16- to 19-inches, with the base tyre a 205/60 R16 and the top-spec version running a 225/40 R19.

Its interior is similar to the A-Class’s, and why not? It’s clearly the best in the class at the moment. There’s the free-standing instrument cluster that’s fully digital. There are 64 ambient-light colours, with three central air-vents.

The long tail lifts the CLA Shooting Brake’s aerodynamic drag coefficient from 0.23 to 0.26Cd, but Benz’s main focus was on wind-noise reduction.

It also scores the latest evolution of Benz’s MBUX user interface, with the “Hey Mercedes” command updated to also recognise movement. It can also now figure out whether the command is coming from the driver or the passenger (so it knows which seat to massage).

Alongside the CLA Shooting Brake in Geneva, Mercedes-Benz revealed the futuristic EQV concept, plus the facelifted GLC and new Mercedes-AMG GT R Roadster.