The next-generation Mercedes-Benz CLA has been shown under camouflage at the Festival d’Hyères French fashion and photography festival, and the show car previews the production form of the upcoming compact model.
This form appears more productionised from the shapes of the Concept CLA that was shown in September last year, with a more conventional set of headlamps and tail lamps, while along its sides are conventional door handles.
At the front, the headlamps on the upcoming CLA appear closer in design to those of current production Mercedes-Benz models, while the tail lamps adopt the partial circular design as seen on the Concept CLA. Beneath the camouflage foil could be a version of the full-width tail lamp as seen on the concept car.
The closed-off grille suggests that the upcoming model will emerge as a fully electric model, as with the Concept CLA that has been said to be built on the Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture (MMA) platform for battery-electric models.
At its debut, the Concept CLA was touted to feature an 800-volt electrical architecture which will support up to 250 kW of DC fast charging, which Mercedes-Benz says will enable the topping up of 400 km of battery range in 15 minutes. This yields a claimed range of 750 km on a single charge, at a consumption rate of 12 kWh per 100 km.
This platform for the Concept CLA is configured for rear-wheel-drive, though its modular layout enables all-wheel-drive versions as well. Specifications for the production CLA have yet to be revealed, however the Concept CLA was specified with a 175 kW (238 PS) rear-mounted motor with a two-speed transmission, and its electric drive unit is claimed to have energy efficiency of 93%.
GALLERY: Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA
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It doesn’t look quite impressive just yet. Hopefully this will be the answer to China cars next year, at least the minimum response