The CLA-Class looks nearly ready to go into production.
The next-gen Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class strips off some camouflage in these new spy shots. Plus, the images provide a great look inside the stylish sedan.
This CLA-Class doesn’t wear any camouflage on the roof or along the lower portion of the doors. The headlights and taillights also appear to be the final production units. Mercedes also barely bothers to conceal the grille with its single-bar layout and circle for the star in the center.
The CLA-Class is supposed to be Mercedes’ more stylish offering on its compact platform. However, the design is incredibly similar to the A-Class sedan (pictured above). The only major visual difference is the way the rear part of the roof attaches to the body, which gives the CLA a slightly sleeker silhouette.
Inside, all of Mercedes’ compacts share the same basic layout by incorporating an array of screens that stretch across the dashboard. One of them handles displaying the digital instrument cluster, and the other does infotainment duty. A stylish array of metal-trimmed HVAC vents also adorns the center stack to lend a cool aesthetic to the cabin.
The shared platforms mean that the CLA- and A-Class would share powertrains, too. Spy shots already show the CLA35 under development that would pack a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder producing 302 horsepower (225 kilowatts) and 295 pound-feet (400 Newton-meters). There’s also a hotter CLA45 on the way making over 400 hp (298 kW).
The CLA-Class sedan will debut in early 2019, and the Shooting Brake wagon will arrive shortly afterward. The four-door variant will also eventually arrive in the U.S., but Americans won’t get the long-roof model.
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