Paris debut for new CLS

Mercedes-Benz will unveil a radically different CLS at the Paris Motor Show in the first week of October. In the same way that the current car did back in 2004, the new CLS is sure to divide opinion on the subject of its looks.

A modified version of the corporate-look frontal styling introduced with the SLS has been grafted on a new body featuring complex sculpture lines in the doors, recalling the flame surfacing of BMW's Z4, if anything.

"The new CLS points the way forward for the future perceptible design idiom of Mercedes-Benz", Professor Gorden Wagener was quoted as saying in press material issued for the new car ahead of its launch in the French capital. The head of design at Mercedes-Benz continued, saying: "At the same time it takes its inspiration from the great tradition of stylish, refined sportiness which has always been a feature of Mercedes coupés."

According to Benz, the new CLS retains the predecessor's proportions, but every styling detail about the new car is removed from what has become familiar in the earlier model.

On the technical front, the new CLS features full LED headlights, which Benz claims is a world first. 71 diodes in three layers within each headlight cluster provide better lighting than conventional headlight systems, the company notes. LED technology also underpins the tail lights, which are carefully integrated with the car's design to link the flanks with the rear of the car.

Inside, Benz designers have embraced a panoramic dash layout, situated within a sweeping style of dash design and drop lines in the door mouldings. Once the new CLS reaches market, it will be offered with choices of five different interior colours, five trim designs, three grades of leather and three exclusive types of wood: high-gloss brown burr walnut, high-gloss black ash and satin-finish light-brown poplar.

In detail, the interior of the CLS will present satin or high-gloss finishes for metallic surfaces and hand-sewn leather for the dash. Buyers will also be offered the further options of piano lacquer and carbonfibre decorative trim.

"Customers all over the world benefited from our bold move to launch a completely new vehicle concept onto the market", Dr. Joachim Schmidt recalled of the original CLS. "And with its exciting design, the new edition of the CLS also benefits from the fact that we are a whole generation ahead of the competition with our four-door Coupé," concluded Dr. Schmidt, member of the board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Sales & Marketing.

Archrival BMW is known to be working on a new model based on the Concept Gran Coupe exhibited in Beijing earlier this year and Audi's A7 -- also fronting up to the Paris show -- are two of the competitors the CLS will face in the years ahead.

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