Mercedes-Benz CLE Shooting Brake By Sugar Design

While most car manufacturers struggle to find new niches and invent new segments, Mercedes is doing the opposite. The old C-Class and E-Class coupes don’t get two direct replacements but a single one that kind of falls between them in terms of size, albeit a bit closer to the latter.
 

Christened the Mercedes-Benz CLE, it takes a rather confusing swing at the slightly smaller BMW 4 Series Coupe and Audi A5 Coupe. Bystanders won’t mistake it for anything other than a car made by the three-pointed star. After all, there is a large logo in the middle of the grille that says so, a smaller one in front of the hood, and another emblem on the trunk lid. It kind of mirrors the looks of the latest-gen C-Class sedan up front, and it has familiar lights at the rear.
 
Familiar is the word to look for when stepping inside, as the first-ever CLE has a portrait-oriented touchscreen display floating above the center console and below the three central air vents. With an 11.9-inch screen, it gives the car S-Class and SL vibes and sits next to the tablet-like 12.3-inch digital dials. Users will be able to play TikTok videos, attend Zoom conferences, and kill some time with Angry Birds. As you can expect, a premium sound system is on deck, and massaging seats are included.
 
Diesel power is still part of the offering, in Europe anyway, with a 2.0-liter unit developing 200 ps (197 hp/147 kW) on the CLE 220 d. The 2.0-liter gasoline engine produces 204 ps (201 hp/150 kW) on the CLE 200. The 4Matic all-wheel drive versions join them with the CLE 200 4Matic and the CLE 300 4Matic. The latter enjoys 258 ps (254 hp/190 kW). Rounding off the range, for now, is the CLE 450 4Matic with its 381 ps (376 hp/280 kW) produced by the 3.0-liter six-pot. The AMG CLE 53 4Matic is rumored to arrive next year alongside the CLE 63.
 
Do you know what else will join the family? The convertible. A four-door coupe variant was also rumored at one point, but with the CLS biting the dust, it’s likely never going to happen. Another thing that has zero chance of getting greenlit is the Shooting Brake. No, we’re not talking about a wagon with a sloping roofline but a real shooting brake body style with a three-door design similar to the one imagined by sugardesign_1 and shared in the gallery above. It retains the overall styling of the coupe and features a longer roof and a tailgate. Everything else carries over, from the nose and profile styling to the rear bumper design and alloys, and we secretly wish that Mercedes would give it a go. Do you want that too?