Merc plans new CLS to be ‘fit for James Bond’

New CLS four-door coupé to debut at Frankfurt Motor Show

MERCEDES will push its saloon styling to extremes for the next generation of its CLS four-door coupé, the company’s chief designer has revealed.

The next edition of the car – which originally made its debut back in 2004 – is expected to be unveiled to the public at this September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. It will be based on the recently launched E-class and share the executive model’s engines and transmissions.

But the CLS will now form part of a twocar appendix to the E-class line-up, focusing on style and luxury. The other car, the production version of the Mercedes-amg GT Concept (see below) – AMG’S second bespoke model – will major on performance.

Speaking at the recent New York Motor Show, Mercedes chief design officer Gorden Wagener told us: “The CLS is for James Bond, and the GT Concept is for Jason Bourne. That describes the different approaches to those vehicles.

“The GT Concept is more of a four-door race car; for me the CLS is more the stylish car, the designer car – the design icon. The next generation will be even more. It’ll be a completely reduced car, with an aggressive roofline and stunning proportions, like a designer’s sketch. We thought about how to get these cars apart.” Wagener promised that the CLS will still have space for adults in the

“To promote the AMG GT Concept’s performance, Mercedes is likely to keep V8 engines out of the CLS”

rear. “Head clearance will stay pretty much the same,” he said. “We get bigger wheels on it, too, so we can push them up into the body. The side window profile is like a designer’s line drawing – very slim.”

Our exclusive main image previews how the CLS could look in AMG trim, with the Panamericana front grille treatment. But Mercedes is so keen to promote the performance attributes of the upcoming AMG GT Concept that it is likely to keep V8 engines out of the CLS. UK models are expected to be offered with four-cylinder diesels and six-cylinder petrols and diesels; the AMG variant could then use a twin-turbocharged version of Mercedes’ all-new straight-six petrol.

The AMG GT four-door, meanwhile, is likely to stick close to the show car, and to be offered in four and five-seat layouts. That model won’t arrive until 2019.

“The CLS will focus on style while production version of AMG concept majors on performance”

DESIGN ICON Exclusive image shows how next CLS could look. Panamericana grille design will come on racy AMG versions, which will likely use a twin-turbo engine. The CLS is already out on test (below)

Production car based on GT concept (right) will have more muscle than the CLS SPIED