Mercedes CLA250 2013
The CLA, like the CLS, features a low, sloping roofline and four doors with frameless windows in the manner of a coupe. But as anyone who has viewed the CLS from the back seat, the design invites rear passengers to bang their heads on the doorframe during ingress and egress
Those lines do look slippery; according to Mercedes, the CLA's 0.23 coefficient of drag, a measure of aerodynamics, is the lowest number ever for a production model
The car also breaks ground as Mercedes' first front-wheel-drive model for the US market. In an interview after its introduction on 13 January, Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler, the Mercedes parent, told BBC Autos that the CLA was based on the same front-drive platform used by the diminutive A-Class and B-Class hatchbacks in other markets
"The US market isn't very fond of hatchbacks, as we are in Europe, so this car should be well-received", he surmised
The result is very close to the Acura TSX in size and specification, and it is young drivers who grew up with front drive that the company is targeting with the CLA, which will start for less that $30,000 when it goes on sale in September. An all-wheel-drive 4Matic version will follow in 2014, as will a more powerful twin-turbocharged engine
