Next-gen Mercedes-Benz CLS set for French debut
The Mercedes-Benz CLS is an ingenious piece of marketing work. Recycling the tried and tested mechanicals from the E-Class, Mercedes wrapped an all-new body around it, reduced seating capacity to four, and sold it more expensively too. Mercedes calls it a four-door coupe, and now everyone is following suit. Why? Because it sells.
The all-new Mercedes-Benz CLS
Some 170,000 units of the outgoing model found buyers worldwide, making it a considerable success. Remember, this car is a glorified E-Class with a substantially bigger price tag. Now, six years on the road, a replacement is due, and we’ll be seeing it debut at the Paris Motor Show later this year.
No details released yet, only pictures.
No details have been released yet, but Mercedes has published pictures of the new model on its global media site. Considering the outgoing model’s popularity, Mercedes saw it fit to maintain a high order of resemblance with the new one. The overall silhouette is unchanged, and you would be forgiven for thinking this is a facelift rather than an all-new model. The most notable change from the outgoing model is the SLS-inspired front end which features the large three-pointed star which characterizes Mercedes coupes.
Cabin is noticeably sportier than the E-Class
Just as the outgoing model was based on the W211 E-Class, the replacement is developed on the same platform as the current generation W212 E-Class. As such, we would expect to see similar engine options as the higher end E-Class models. As far as Europe is concerned, our bets are on there being a CLS 350 CGI, CLS 350 CDI, and CLS 500 to kick-start matters. Bringing those engines into Malaysia would be quite a problem.
It’s still a four-seater
KON
See also:
– Autoworld Blog >> Blog Archive >> W212 Mercedes-Benz E-class – by TheGunner (22/2/2009)
-Autoworld Blog >> Blog Archive >> Mercedes follows up E-class sedan with Coupe – by TheGunner (5/3/2009)
