Mercedes to build CLS Shooting Brake

Mercedes has announced that the CLS Shooting Brake, which was shown as a concept at the Beijing motor show in April 2010, will go into production in 2012. 

Well, if you want a car that will turn heads around town – and find the E-class estate has a little too much room – then this is the car for you. Mercedes flatly refuses to admit that the CLS Shooting Brake is an estate, preferring to call it a ‘sporty four-door coupe with a sloping tail end based on the CLS’.

In essence, this car is a hatchback version of the CLS, and despite a slightly raised roof, it still sits a full 10cm lower than its E-class sibling. Don't expect a big boot to match the E-class estate.

Expect two petrols (Merc's new 3.5-litre V6 and turbocharged 4.6-litre V8) and two diesels (a 2.2 four and a 3.0-litre V6), plus other small capacity, forced-induction engines that will appear in the regular CLS between now and the Shooting Brake's introduction in 2012. The CLS Shooting Brake should also be more dynamic than the equivalent E estate, thanks to a lower centre of gravity and a front axle pinched from the E63.

By Ben Miles