The smallest estate in the Mercedes line-up, the new CLA Shooting Brake is based on the CLA four-door coupe and goes on sale in January 2015, with the first models going to customers towards the end of March 2015.

‘The new CLA Shooting Brake is the latest member of our successful family of compact models. The range, which now includes five models, covers an extremely wide spectrum: with the spacious B-Class sports tourer, the youthfully dynamic A-Class, the avant-garde CLA-Class Coupé and the compact GLA-Class SUV, we cater for a host of different customer wishes in this segment,’ said Ola Källenius, Member of the Divisional Board Mercedes-Benz Cars, responsible for Marketing & Sales. ‘Like its big brother, the CLS Shooting Brake, the CLA Shooting Brake is targeted at active customers who are looking outside of the mainstream for a car that impresses with a high utility value.’

The CLA Shooting Brake measures 4,630mm long and is 1,777mm wide and 1,435mm wide. Design is focused on style and brings a lower overall height and an elongated coupé-style roof contour line, with a gently sloping roof line that brings significantly more headroom than in the four-door Coupé. Access to the second row of seats is also much easier.

Boot capacity is 495 with the seats upright, moving to 595 litres with the seat backs in “cargo’ position and rising to a maximum of 1354 litres. It also brings class-leading luggage compartment width, at up to 1328 mm, and practical details such as the magnetic catch on the through-loading flap in the rear-seat backrest for long items, such as skis.

Options such as an electrically operated EASY-PACK tailgate or the Load Compartment package are also available.

The CLA Shooting Brake will initially be available with a choice of two diesel and three petrol engines as well as with 4MATIC all-wheel drive. 

The CLA 200 CDI brings 134bhp along with a top speed of 134mph and a combined consumption figure of 72.4mpg, with emissions of 101g/km.

All versions are equipped as standard with the ECO start/stop function and are Euro 6-compliant.

All-wheel drive is available straight from market launch, initially in the CLA 250 4MATIC and CLA 250 Sport 4MATIC. Diesel variants in the form of the CLA 200 CDI 4MATIC and CLA 220 CDI 4MATIC will follow in September 2015.

Mercedes also announced the launch of the CLA 45 AMG Shooting Brake, which brings 355bhp and a 0 to 62mph time of 4.7 seconds along with official combined fuel consumption of 40.9mpg and 161g/km. The model also includes the AMG SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed sports transmission, fully variable AMG Performance 4MATIC all-wheel drive, a bespoke braking system and purpose-developed chassis.

Trim levels include Urban and AMG Line, with the latter offering AMG bodystyling, 18-inch AMG 5-twin-spoke light-alloy wheels and a two-pipe exhaust system with chrome-plated tailpipe trim. The interior also features sports seats in ARTICO man-made leather/DINAMICA microfibre, a multifunction sports steering wheel with flattened bottom section and a leather-upholstered shift lever.

Mercedes will also offer a limited-edition OrangeArt Edition special model, which brings selected equipment features, such as the AMG Line and Night package along with the 18-inch AMG multi-spoke light-alloy wheels, painted in black with an orange rim flange, together with orange highlights on the front and rear aprons. Meanwhile the bi-xenon headlamps feature orange highlight rings.