Entering the final stages of development, the CLA Shooting Brake will be to the CLA sedan what the CLS Shooting Brake is to the regular CLS. The low-slung station wagon will mix a generous cargo capacity and a sporty silhouette in a front-wheel drive package that will be considerably more affordable than the larger, rear-wheel drive CLS Shooting Brake.
Visually, the Shooting Brake will be identical to the four-door CLA from the front bumper to the B-pillar. Beyond that, it will gain a swooping roof line and a large hatch to facilitate the task of loading the trunk, but the wagon will use the same tail lamps as its sedan counterpart.
Official technical details have not been published yet but the wagon will undoubtedly be offered with the same four-cylinder gasoline- and diesel-burning engines that are found under the hood of the CLA sedan. A potent 360-horsepower AMG-tuned variant with permanent all-wheel drive and an aggressive body kit will slot at the very top of the lineup later in the production run.
The CLA Shooting Brake will round out Mercedes’ entry-level A lineup. The Stuttgart-based automaker will not launch a two-door coupe or a convertible version of either the A or the CLA because it believes the market for such cars is small and steadily declining.
Mercedes has confirmed the CLA Shooting Brake will go on sale across Europe in early 2015. Although Stuttgart-based automaker has not officially commented on the matter, rumors circulating around the auto industry indicate the sleek wagon will not be offered in the United States.
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