New Benz CLS wagon brakes cover

Mercedes-Benz’s answer to the likes of Audi's A5 and A7 Sportbacks and BMW's GT range has officially broken cover before it arrives Down Under in limited numbers around November.

Unveiled today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England, the CLS Shooting Brake formalises the long rumoured and much photographed combination of Benz's four-door coupe styling with estate proportions.

“Any memorable machine is equal parts art and science,” began Benz boss Dr Dieter Zetsche in introducing the new five-door.

“A car has to first deliver in function – the ticket of entry – and then in fascination: the ticket to real excitement. The CLS Shooting Brake excels on both accounts – unlike any other car in the market,” he enthused.

The bare statistics of the CLS Shooting Brake are unlikely to have much to do with whether it succeeds or not. This is a designer handbag on four wheels. Indeed, it's not just the low sloping roofline and frameless doors that separates the CLS Shooting Brake from Benz's more conventional sedan and estate models, but a whole new level of interior detailing.

How does adding a planked, deck-like wooden floor of American cherry with oak inlays to the luggage area sound, for starters?

Mercedes claims to have taken interior detailing to another level in the Shooting Brake. The pre-release bumph details hand-stitched leather sideliners to the luggage area and special rubber and aluminium load securing inserts that deliver, respectively, amenity and non-skid functionality. 

New to the five-door also are “porcelain interior appointments” imported from the S-Class range. It’s these additions that point to a higher price point for the car when compared to its four-door, four-seat stablemate.

Perhaps the only thing missing, given the car's moniker and unveiling venue, is a custom shotgun case – though we’re sure the boys and girls at AMG Exclusive could probably supply one...

Flying in the face of the emphasis on “style”, from a practical viewpoint the Brake offers some advantages – it’s a five-seater, unlike its swoopy four-seat stablemate, and it boasts a 590-litre luggage area and an automatic rear tailgate.

The rear seats fold to increase the capacity to 1590 litres. Pneumatically regulated self-levelling rear suspension is also standard across the Shooting Brake line-up. There's even an optional tow bar!

Mercedes-Benz will offer a full range of turbodiesel and petrol engine options in Europe. Also offered in home markets will be 4MATIC all-wheel drive models.

Down Under, however, the CLS Shooting Brake is likely to be rear-wheel drive only and will arrive with premium powerplants only. Expect more details on specification and pricing later this year, ahead of the car’s late-2012 launch.

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