Paris Show 2010 Highlights: 2012 Mercedes CLS

Mercedes has unveiled its all-new CLS at the Paris motor show, which is due to go on sale in the UK next March.

It replaces the car that’s credited with creating the ‘four-door coupé’ segment of the market, and spawning models like the Audi A7 and the Volkswagen Passat CC. Mercedes sold more than 170,000 examples of the original car, which was launched in 2004.

The new CLS has been styled under the guidance of new Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener. It sits on a modified version of the current E-class floorpan, with wider tracks to help give it a more aggressive stance.

Mercedes has not released official dimensions, but the car is wider and longer than the outgoing model, and wider but lower than the E-class saloon.

The most dominant styling feature is a new front-end treatment that will be phased in across Mercedes’ range over the next few years.

Described by Merc insiders as a “soft nose”, it features a gaping grille that’s similar to the item already introduced on the SLS. Mercedes says the grille treatment – which sits separate from the engine cover – helps to make the bonnet look longer.

At either side of the grille, the CLS will be offered with optional headlight units made up entirely from LEDs. Each set-up contains 71 LEDs, which work on dipped and main beam, sidelights and indicators.

The CLS’s flanks feature the same rear wheel arch bulge as the current E-class. The single, uninterrupted crease that ran from nose to tail on the old car is replaced by a line that falls from above the front wheel arch to the middle of the rear door.

The six-pot gets revised direct injection, a narrow-angle block and stop-start tech, improving fuel economy over the old V6 by as much as 24 per cent.

A 4.7-litre V8 replaces the outgoing 5.4-litre unit by adding twin turbochargers. It has almost a third more torque, and 12 per cent more power, as well as improved fuel economy and CO2 emissions.

The diesel options will be Mercedes’ latest 3.0-litre common-rail V6 engine, with 231bhp, and the CLS250 CDI, equipped with a 2.1-litre, twin-turbocharged four-cylinder unit. All of the engines will be mated to Mercedes’ seven-speed automatic gearbox.

Thanks to: Autocar