by
Various social media accounts have leaked images of the all-new Mercedes CLS four-door coupe a day before its LA Motor Show debut
The all-new Mercedes CLS four-door coupe has been leaked on social media ahead of its grand unveiling on 29 November. What appear to be official images of the undisguised car have surfaced on various Twitter and Instagram accounts.
This is our best look yet at the all-new Mercedes CLS ahead of its unveiling at this week’s Los Angeles Motor Show. The low-res images clearly display the all-new CLS in the metal for the first time, with bodywork similar to test mules that have been previously spied across Europe.
The leaked interior picture also gives us our first unrestricted look at the cabin of the new CLS, with cream leather upholstery used in this version of the sleek four-door. Bleached wood inlets around the doors and centre console match the light materials elsewhere and a sweep of azure blue ambient lighting runs across the dash and door inserts. The new infotainment screen was revealed in a teaser image a while back but this new interior shot also shows the CLS’ digitalised rev counter and speedometer for the first time.
A teaser video released last weekend showed a close-up of the four-door coupe’s front end and swooping profile, while much slimmer LED head and tail lights over the E-Class on which its based can be picked out. In these latest leaked images, we get a much clearer view of the CLS’ swooping front end.
The CLS will be a rival for the Audi A7 and Porsche Panamera – all cars that put design ahead of practicality. The second-generation CLS will also be one of Merc’s most advanced models to date featuring a range of new 48-volt hybrid powertrains.
We know that Mercedes will push its saloon styling to extremes for the next generation of its CLS four-door coupe – as the company’s chief designer revealed so earlier this year. Underneath It will be based on the recently new E-Class and share the executive model’s engines and transmissions.
Mercedes CLS spy shots
The most recent spy shots came from Catalonia and differ from previous photos. These test mules aren’t wearing any camouflage, except for some grey tape on the front and rear bumpers. It’s the first time we caught glimpse of the third-generation CLS in its natural form much in the way of disguise.
The body was painted in a plain white colour with a sunroof clearly visible. The grey tape doesn’t do much to hide the new headlight cluster, with boomerang-shaped LED lights accompanying the main lamps. The front grille looks to have been lifted from the E-Class Coupe, with its dotted formation clear to see.
The overall sleek four-door coupe shape still remains in the latest photos with little revelations around the back. Auto Express reader Martyn Peal also snapped a camouflaged CLS in the UK, showing the car undergoing final assessment before its 2018 market release.
The CLS will now form part of a two-car appendix to the E-Class line-up, focusing on style and luxury. The other car, the production version of the Mercedes-AMG GT Concept – AMG’s second bespoke model – will major on performance.
Speaking at the New York Motor Show earlier this year, 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 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 images (see gallery) preview 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.
After its LA Motor Show reveal, we expect the car to arrive in showrooms at some point in 2018. We might not see a Shooting Brake version of the new CLS appear, however, given that sales of the current estate bodied CLS have been slow.
roud2supercars 