With more than a year separating my test week with the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250 from its debutante ball at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, I had the advantage of a mountain of data and diatribes with which to inform my initial opinion. Conversations with colleagues and coworkers netted splintered ideas about the CLA's driving demeanor; reading hundreds of comments posted on
We give BMW a whole lot of grief for its niche-exploiting ways. Check our report on the rumored X2 to see what we mean. But in reality, Mercedes-Benz is very nearly as guilty. The latest batch of evidence supporting the argument is this, the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake.
Mercedes-Benz is continuing to see heavy demand for its compact models, like the CLA-Class, around the world, and Daimler has responded by adding a third shift at its Kecskemét, Hungary, factory starting in May. The plant, which builds the B-Class and CLA-C
If working from home these past few years has taught me anything, it's that I genuinely miss commuting. Yeah, you heard me. Maybe it's because, historically, my commutes have always been pretty enjoyable – not like the opening scene from Office Space, one of those stop-and-go-until-the-end-of-time grinds. When I had to drive to an office every day, I always managed to find routes that didn't involve the highway, or at the very least, they incorporated a fun on-ramp or two. In my m
It's still in the early going, but it's looking more and more like the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA is a verifiable home run for the German brand. According to a new report from Bloomberg, the
Last week, we showed you some images of the long-roofed Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake. Those shots of the five-door Mercedes were from a distance and were quite grainy, unfortunately. Today, we have much better shots of the new model, shown testing somewhere in Europe.
Mercedes-Benz CLA sales have been booming, with the Stuttgart-based manufacturer moving 2,300 of the sleek four-doors in its first week on sale. That is astonishing. Mercedes moved nearly twice as many CLAs (which start at $29,900) in one week than Jaguar, a brand that is on a very solid roll, sold in all of September. Ignoring the price differences between the Jag line and the
One of key reasons that small cars are popping up in luxury automakers' lineups is to help boost fleet fuel economy numbers. For Mercedes-Benz and its new 2014 CLA-Class, mission accomplished. Although Mercedes has yet to release final numbers for its new small car set to go on sale early next year, the EPA's FuelEconomy.gov website is now listing the front-wheel-drive CLA250, th
With a starting price of under $30,000 in the US, one might be wondering how Mercedes-Benz plans to eke out a profit on its new entry-level CLA-Class. The answer, as with most other German offerings, will almost certainly be found on its long options list. And while there will be typical creature comforts like moonroofs and uprated stereos on the list, Mercedes is evidently al
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Mercedes-Benz trotted out its CLA45 AMG-based racer at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. We first showed you the sedan in the deluge of news and reveals that precedes most good auto shows, and were blown away by the car, formally known as the CLA45 AMG Racing Series.
On any given weekend, you can expect to see the Three-Pointed Star racing somewhere. It could be in Formula One, DTM, V8 Supercars or any of the myriad sportscar racing series where customer teams compete in the SLS AMG GT3. But now it looks like Noah Joseph
Mercedes-Benz is preparing a major product offensive to counteract lagging sales in the Chinese market, aiming 20 new or updated models at the People's Republic in the next two years, according to a report by Reuters. The plan is part of MB's so-called 2020 Initiative, which will see the Stuttgart-based manufacturer dump 2 billion Euro
That didn't take long. Shortly after a French administrative court gave the French government a ten-day window to reconsider its ban on registrations of Mercedes-Benz A-, B- and CLA-Class cars using the p
Mercedes-Benz seems to be expecting a lot of success from its front-wheel-drive CLA-Class. Automotive News is reporting that the sub-C-Class sedan could grow when its second generation arrives in 2018.
Would you buy a Mercedes-Benz if it were made in Mexico? That's what the German outfit is wondering, as it considers localizing production of its new budget model at a factory operated by Nissan, of which the automaker is a joint-venture partner.
Mercedes-Benz is launching its entry-level CLA-Class in the United States this fall, and you can now build the small, swoopy sedan of your dreams using the automaker's online configurator. Right now, your choices are limited to the front-wheel-drive CLA250 model, though Mercedes-Benz will be offering the CLA with 4Matic all-wheel drive not long after, as well as the hotter-than-h
As stylish as the new Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class already is, it sounds like the automaker is considering a shooting brake version similar to what was recently introduced for the larger CLS-Class. What Car? recently talked to Mercedes design boss Gordon Wagener, who indicated that a cargo-friendly versi
Remember when 100 horsepower per liter of displacement was a huge feat of automotive engineering? That sort of power density was the preserve of high-strung motorsports powerplants and a handful of street engines not long ago. Well, today Mercedes has introduced its 2014 CLA45 AMG, and it cranks out an astounding 355 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque from just 2.0 liters. That's
It's not terribly difficult to imagine what the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG will look like, or what it will perform like, for that matter. Take the basic recipe that is the recently introduced A45 AMG, throw in a swoopy and devastatingly attractive coupe-like sedan shell, mix and serve.
