Mercedes CLA Detroit debut & CLA45 AMG at Frankfurt 2013

It looks like 2013 will be the year of the new baby CLS at Mercedes, with the regular Mercedes CLA debuting at Detroit in January and the CLA45 AMG at Frankfurt 2013.

The next instalment of A-Class goodness will be the arrival of the ‘Baby CLS’ – the Mercedes CLA – which sets out to emulate the CLS with a swoopy coupe design expected to change little from the impressive Mercedes Concept Style Coupe we saw at the Beijing Motor Show in April.

And if the new CLA looks just like the Style Concept then Mercedes will almost certainly have another hugely successful model in the A-Class range to bolster sales towards its aim of 2.6 million Mercedes sales a year by 2020.

With a likely set of engine and trim options more or less echoing those in the new A-Class, the Mercedes CLA will offer a properly prestigious looking car for more modest money. Good for the buyer, but perhaps less good for Mercedes, who will struggle to make the same sort of margins on smaller cars they do on cars like the S Class.

But one CLA Mercedes are likely to see a decent margin on is the range topping CLA45 AMG, and that looks like it’s arriving at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013 before arriving in showrooms in early 2014.

With much the same platform as the A45 AMG, the CLA45 AMG will offer 350bhp, 4WD, a 7-speed dual clutch ‘box and be able to sprint to 62mph in around 5 seconds. Which will make it a hugely appealing compact four door coupe.

Mercedes do seem to have their Mojo back.

By Cars UK