Spied: Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake

Mercedes-Benz’s relentless product proliferation continues apace and the next derivative in the pipeline is the CLS Shooting Brake, captured here in prototype form by motoring.com.au’s editor in-chief, Mike Sinclair, during a recent trip to Germany.

The first signs of what was to come was provided by the CLS Shooting Brake concept revealed at the 2010 Beijing motor show, and it appears the essence of the design study has carried through to the road-going version.

The surfacing on the flanks has been smoothed out and some of the detailing has been finessed, but other than that it’s largely a case of as-you-were. It’s believed the car will make its first public appearance at next month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed – a veritable bonanza of auto porn.

Going on the accompanying image – plus what we’ve seen of the 2010 concept – it appears the CLS Shooting Brake is a far more successful attempt at the genre (at least visually) than the frumpy looking BMW 5 Series GT.

It remains to be seen how much more practicality and versatility the Shooting Brake offers over the CLS sedan it’s derived from, but the rear hatchback and flat storage space could potentially enable it to swallow a much larger swag of gear than its four-door sibling.

The powertrain line-up is expected to reflect that of the CLS sedan, kicking off with a 225kW 3.5-litre direct-injection V6 and topping out with the thumping twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 that propels the CLS 63 AMG.

The CLS Shooting Brake will be built at the largest Mercedes-Benz production facility, Sindelfingen, the same plant that builds C-Class and E-Class sedan, E-Class Estate, S-Class, CLS and CL coupes, and formerly the Maybach uber-luxo brand.

It’s worth keeping in mind that this isn’t the only Shooting Brake that Merc is plotting, as also reportedly in the works is a similar derivative based on the smaller BLS/CLC four-door coupe.

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