The Mercedes CLA premium compact sedan will be competing in the D+ segment space and will be the most affordable sedan offered by the German auto giant. It is scheduled for launch on 20th January.
Taking back lost market share in the country against rivals in the luxury space, Mercedes-Benz India has had a very aggressive 2014 with a slew of launches including the standard as well as the performance bred AMG vehicles making it to Indian shores. Keeping the spirits high, the automaker plans to welcome 2015 in the same fashion and will commence the year with the launch of the CLA premium compact sedan on 20th January. The CLA sedan is the fifth model to be based on the MFA platform that underpins most of the premium compact offerings in the German giant’s lineup.
Essentially the A-Class with a boot, the Mercedes CLA shares several design traits with the former but gets styling bits from the larger CLS saloon as well. Compared to the hatchback, the sedan gets a coupe-like roofline and a well crafted rear end with petal shaped tail lights. Competing against the simplistic Audi A3, Toyota Camry, Skoda Superb and the likes in the D+ segment, the CLA will undoubtedly be the best looking sedan to be offered in the same space.
On the inside, the CLA shares the layout with the A-Class including the heads-up display unit, propeller themed air-con vents and comes with a host of driver assist and safety systems on offer. Doing a quick recap on the powertrain, the Mercedes CLA sedan will be offered with a 2.0-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine producing 181 BHP and 300 Nm of torque, while diesel performance comes from the 2.1-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder unit producing 136 PS and 300 Nm of torque. Both the engines come paired to the 7G-DCT automatic transmission as standard.
Much like the GLA, Mercedes is most likely to offer the CLA in a single trim ‘200’ for both the engine options and will be brought in as a CBU in the country. While rest of the models are either CKDs or SKDs, the CLA will be priced rather optimistically and that could be a bummer for the Stuttgart based manufacturer, until CKD assembly commences. Taking an unconventional route, Mercedes first launched the CLA45 AMG; the more powerful, Affalterbach tuned and absolutely tarmac scorching performance sedan in the country earlier this year.
