Mercedes has launched the new CLA four-door coupe in the UK, with prices starting from £30,550
Mercedes has officially launched the new CLA four-door coupe in the UK, with prices starting from £30,500. First unveiled at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show, the new model joins the A-Class range at the lower end of the German manufacturer’s line-up. Prices rise to £36,365 for top spec models.
Entry-level CLA 180 and CLA 200 models use the same 1.3-litre petrol engine found in the A-Class hatchback, with the former producing 132bhp and 200Nm of torque, and the latter 159bhp and 250Nm of torque. Both engines deliver economy figures of 47.9mpg, while the more efficient CLA 180 promises emissions ratings of 123g/km of CO2.
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The mid-range CLA 220 comes with a 2.0-litre petrol engine, which produces 185bhp and 300Nm of torque. Both front- and four-wheel-drive variants are available, with both providing a 0–62mph sprint of seven seconds. Top speed stands at 150mph for the front-wheel-drive variant and 147mph for the four-wheel-drive model.
Range-topping CLA 250 models use a re-tuned version of the same turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine as the CLA 220, with 218bhp and 350Nm of torque. As such, the sprint from 0–62mph is a claimed 6.3 seconds, and top speed stands an electronically limited 155mph.
Standard equipment includes LED headlights, privacy glass, two-zone climate control, keyless-go, heated front seats, a wireless smartphone charger, active lane keeping assist and Mercedes’s Speed Limit Assist. Like the A-Class hatch, the CLA also gets Mercedes’s latest 10.25-inch MBUX infotainment screen with sat-nav and live traffic updates.
The system incorporates the ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice-controlled assistant. It also introduces Mercedes’s Interior Assist, which adapts the content displayed on the screen as a hand approaches it. It also adds the option for gesture control ‘favourites’ to be stored, for both the driver and the front passenger.
For an extra £1,495, Mercedes’s AMG Line Premium trim level adds a 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster, a dash camera, a rear-seat armrest, illuminated door sills and customisable ambient lighting with a choice of 64 colours.
AMG Line Premium Plus models cost a further £1,495 and come with all the aforementioned equipment, as well as a panoramic sliding sunroof, adaptive ‘Multibeam’ LED headlights and memory seats for the driver and front passenger. Mercedes’s new ‘Energising Package’ also features, claiming to boost the driver’s fitness and wellbeing by automatically adjusting the CLA’s heating, seat position, interior lighting and music towards the driver’s specific needs.
Initially, all models will be sold with a seven-speed automatic gearbox, but Mercedes says it plans to introduce a manual option later in the CLA’s life-cycle. Two diesel-powered variants will also join the line-up by the end of the year, badged as the CLA 200 d and CLA 220 d.
Higher-performance versions of the car are in the pipeline, too. Expect a CLA 35 AMG and CLA 45 AMG to follow within six months, following the commercial release of the CLA Shooting Brake estate in May.
Mercedes CLA: design and platform
The new CLA is based on the same platform as the latest A-Class hatchback, borrowing its engines and running gear. However, the Coupe gets multi-link suspension at the rear, a thicker anti-roll bar than the A-Class and the option of adaptive dampers. Mercedes claims these updates, along with a lower centre of gravity, helps give the CLA the “the sportiest driving characteristics” of its compact car range.
Mercedes’s latest CLA is 48mm longer than the model it replaces and, while it’s slightly narrower overall including the side mirrors, the body itself is more than 50mm wider. That’s allowed the firm’s engineers to widen the new CLA’s front and rear tracks by 63mm and 55mm respectively.
Most of the CLA’s interior is carried over the A-Class hatch, meaning buyers get a pair of sports seats, an attractive centre console and plenty of soft-touch plastics. Thanks to its longer wheelbase, the CLA is slightly roomier than the A-Class hatch, and an extra 17mm of headroom has been gained for front seat passengers over the outgoing CLA.
Overall the profile does a better job of looking like a ‘baby CLS’ than the old CLA ever did – thanks, in part, to a more complex boot, which has more pronounced curves than before and an integrated ‘lip’.
Boot capacity is actually slightly reduced, from 470 litres to 460 litres, but Mercedes says the car should be more practical anyway, because of a much wider floor and a larger aperture into the load space.
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