Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake puts junk back in the trunk

The Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class is an A-Class that’s been chopped up to add style at the cost of capacity. But what if you want some style and cargo room simultaneously? You could get a regular A-Class hatchback, sure, or you could opt for the new CLA Shooting Brake.

Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday unveiled the CLA-Class Shooting Brake at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. Just like the last CLA Shooting Brake, this one builds upon the style of the CLA-Class with an extra dose of wagon at the back for added versatility.

In terms of looks, it’s pretty darn close to the new CLA-Class. The headlights are on the more angular side, the side is largely free of character lines while the rear end relies on the same “coupe” taillights seen on the CLA and CLS. The Shooting Brake’s wagon-ish rear end packs an aggressive taper that helps separate it from the A-Class Hatchback. Its 0.26 drag coefficient is a little less slippery than the CLA-Class (0.23), but not by much.

As far as quasi-wagons go, this one’s a looker.


Mercedes-Benz

The interior is almost a carbon copy of the CLA, with both its screens slapped onto the same “surfboard” piece of glass. There’s ample storage space ahead of the redesigned touchpad controller. If you’ve seen the A-Class or the CLA-Class, the story is pretty much the same here.

The centerpiece of the CLA Shooting Brake’s tech is MBUX, Mercedes-Benz’s latest and greatest infotainment system. Like the A-Class and CLA-Class (again), MBUX packs a digital assistant with natural language processing, and the system itself is vastly more responsive and capable than the outgoing COMAND system. It also packs a suite of active and passive driver aids that allow the vehicle to hold itself in a lane on the highway, but it can also change lanes automatically after the driver applies the turn signal.

In Europe, the CLA Shooting Brake will be offered with a variety of gas and diesel engines. Both manual and dual-clutch transmissions will be available, and buyers will have a choice of two or four driven wheels. The CLA Shooting Brake goes on sale in Europe in September, and like the previous iteration, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see it in the US. Heck, we don’t even get the A-Class Hatchback.