SPY PICS: Benz testing CLA four-door coupe
Spy photos of four-door ‘coupe' confirm sedan body derivative of new Benz A-Class is in developmentExactly one year ago we brought you photos of a new Mercedes-Benz based on the next A-Class and expected to be dubbed CLA.
A sort of scaled-down CLS, the upcoming small Benz was snapped by Carparazzi in five-door hatchback form. The A-Class will be underpinned by the company’s new front-drive MFA platform, which already provides the basis for the B-Class Benz.
Complete with a lower-slung, coupe-style body, the CLA prototype contrasted with regular versions of the next A-Class and is obviously intended to take the car in different, less practically oriented ‘lifestyle’ directions.
Now Carparazzi has captured the CLA in sedan form, wearing similarly heavy disguise but showing clear evidence of its four-door coupe profile with a tapering rear window leading down to a clearly visible boot lid. There are also signs of signature Benz tail-light lenses.
Not much can be interpreted about the car’s side panel shaping because the all-embracing cladding extends from the window line downwards, but the CLA’s turret is clearly visible and gives what can only be presumed to be an accurate view of the glasswork and the car’s most meaningful sheet metal.
As previewed by the Concept Style Coupe that appeared at the Beijing Motor Show in April, the CLA has the domed roof and upward-curving lower window line that so clearly distinguishes the CLS, although the theme is expressed here in a slightly less exuberant manner.
Engines and transmissions could be expected to reflect what is in store for regular versions of the next A-Class, due here in March 2013. That means, at the top-end, a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that produces the same power as a Volkswagen Golf GTI – 155kW – distributed to all four wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch auto.
Though there has not yet been any confirmation from Mercedes-Benz in Australia, the built-in-Hungary CLA, if it follows, could be expected to arrive by the end of 2013, not long after it makes its Euro debut some time next year.
While the mini-SLS ‘SLC’ coupe is reportedly on hold due to cost concerns, the CLA will be the third model to emerge from Merc’s new MFA platform, following the B and A-Class, with an all-new compact SUV due to follow.
-with Carparazzi
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