Amazing what you sometimes find in the lowest level of a hotel car park – during the Kia Optima K5 facelift launch, this Mercedes-Benz CLA 200 was spotted sitting all by its lonesome in B2 of Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral; with camera about, the opportunity to do some photography was too good a chance to miss.
We could well be looking at a Mercedes-Benz Malaysia car in its local specification, unlike those seen in earlier spyshots – doubt that grey would go the hotel basement storage route, and the registered A 45 AMG Edition 1, also likely to be a MBM mule and which had arrived by the time I was leaving the place, adds more fuel to the speculation.
After its introduction here in June last year, the W176 A-Class was on display in front of the Aloft lobby for a good period, so could this CLA be a similar showcase mule?
The particular CLA 200 is shod with an Urban equipment line, complete with a two-pipe exhaust system, a chrome rear diffuser cutout and interior decorative trim done in silver chrome, as well as a Night Package, identifiable by the black wing mirror caps and high-gloss waistline trim strip.
The 18-inch two-tone, twin-spoke wheels are wrapped with 225/40 rubbers – we’ve seen the configuration before, on the first local spyshot of the car back in October last year. The interior scheme, visible through clear windows throughout, is a crystal grey/black combination; the front seats still had protective wrap, with seatbelts locked in place.
Word is that MBM is set to introduce the CLA-Class here only in CLA 200 form at point of launch – the CLA 200 is powered by a Camtronic-equipped M 270 DE 16 AL 1.6 litre mill, with 154 hp and 250 Nm for output numbers. The more brutish CLA 45 AMG is also on the cards, we’re told.
