Mercedes has figured out a way to make the CLA-Class "four-door coupe" even more desirable.
The German car maker will offer a shooting brake version of the CLA, Car and Driver reports, but it won't be sold in the United States.
The Shooting Brake will be a companion model to the regular CLA, just as the CLS Shooting Brake is a companion to the four-door CLS.
Now, the term shooting brake is usually reserved for coupes with wagon-like rear hatches -- think Volvo P1800 ES or Ferrari FF -- but since the CLA is considered a coupe by Mercedes, this new version is a shooting brake, not a wagon. That makes sense, right?
Whatever it actually is, the CLA Shooting Brake should look pretty good. The shooting brake treatment worked pretty well for the bigger CLS, and there isn't any reason to think it won't work on the smaller CLA.
American buyers won't get to find out, though; they're apparently too wagon-phobic for such a vehicle.
Mercedes will really be holding out on us if it decides to build a CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake.
The CLA Shooting Brake will reportedly the last model built on Mercedes' new front-wheel drive architecture, which also underpins the A-Class hatchback, another car that isn't sold in the U.S.
That means the SLA compact roadster is officially on ice.
We'll just keep our fingers crossed and hope Mercedes changes its mind about importing the CLA Shooting Brake.
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