Shooting Brake last MFA Benz — for now

The launch of the Shooting Brake five-door wagon variant of Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class signals a pause in the roll-out of models based on the company's MFA small car platform.

The mini-estate, launched this week in Europe, joins A-Class hatch, B-Class MPV, CLA-Class four-door coupe and GLA-Class crossover to bring the body style total to five. This is the number Benz promised when the new generation small car family was rolled out three years ago.

But it's a hiatus, not the end of new variants, confirm Benz insiders. Although it may be as long as two years away, at least one more vehicle will be spawned in this generation of Benz small cars, motoring.com.au can report.

A small Mercedes-Benz coupe/cabrio to take on BMW's 2 Series and Audi's A3 variants has been rumoured for almost as long as the MFA architecture has been in production, but the business case for such a vehicle "still needs work", Mercedes sources admit.

More likely therefore to become the sixth MFA-based model is a square-rigged four-door sedan aimed at the US and Chinese markets, but sold worldwide. The vehicle would not replace the CLA but sell alongside it a la E and CLS-Class.

motoring.com.au believes the worldwide success of Audi's A3 sedan has at least in part prompted the resurrection of the four-door Benz, which was shelved late in the small car range's initial development cycle.

Described as a "mini C-Class but a bit squarer", the new vehicle would likely yield a much needed improvement in rear seat space and access over the swoopy CLA.

What's interesting is the nomenclature Mercedes will employ to define the model. Current thinking is the vehicle could just be labelled A-Class Sedan but that would fly in the face of practice to date.