- Mercedes-Benz’s next CLA-class offering could include an electric shooting brake (a.k.a. station wagon) for North America.
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During an interview at the 2024 CES show in Las Vegas, the automaker’s Chief Technology Officer told Car and Driver it could come to the States.
- The CLA sedan and its wagon sibling will both ride on the company’s new MMA architecture when it reaches production, likely sometime in 2025.
Mercedes-Benz is on the cusp of releasing an all-new generation of its CLA-class compact car, this time with both gasoline and electric powertrain options.
In an interview at the 2024 CES in Las Vegas, Mercedes-Benz Group’s Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer told a group of journalists that a hatchback/wagon-style “shooting brake” body style would continue to be part of the CLA lineup.
For the past two generations, the CLA-class Shooting Brake model has been withheld from the U.S. market due to low interest in a station wagon variant. But that could change this time around.
“I’m ready to ship it,” Schäfer told Car and Driver after the press conference wrapped. Of course, he qualified it by explaining that buyer interest would be required for the car to be considered for the brand’s North American portfolio.
The CLA-class will ride on a new architecture that Mercedes-Benz calls MMA. It will spawn four unique models, all offered with either gas or electric power. That’s a reduction in body styles from the brand’s current crop of entry-level sedans and SUVs, which currently includes the CLA-class, GLA-class, and GLB-class models as well as electric EQA and EQB SUVs and the A-class sedan.
“We’re going to have much better cost control definitely with only four cars,” Schäfer told us. Perhaps that’s enough to help convince MB product planners that a sleek wagon variant is worth homologation for U.S. roads.
If they do bring the longroof model to U.S. shores it would be a unique offering and perhaps an attractive alternative to more traditionally shaped EVs such as the Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3.
Drew Dorian is a lifelong car enthusiast who has also held a wide variety of consumer-focused positions throughout his career, ranging from financial counselor to auto salesperson. He has dreamed of becoming a Car and Driver editor since he was 11 years old—a dream that was realized when he joined the staff in April 2016. He’s a born-and-raised Michigander and learned to drive on a 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. His automotive interests run the gamut from convertibles and camper vans to sports cars and luxury SUVs.