Hot News: Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake Gets Green Light

To further its goal of leaving no niche unfilled, Mercedes has officially confirmed that it is adding a body variation to its second-gen CLS, which itself is spun off the E-class. The company has confirmed a 2012 launch for the CLS Shooting Brake, although there’s no chance we’ll see it in the U.S.

You’ve seen this vehicle before: The-series production model will essentially keep the look, if not the spelling, of the “Shooting Break” concept shown in China this past April. Substitute more conventional pieces for the funky door handles and mirrors, and you’ve got the real thing. “It takes a second look to realize that the Shooting Brake has four doors and a big tailgate,” the German press release claims. Really? For what would one mistake the large opening on the back of the car?

A shooting brake is typically a two-door wagon based on a coupe, and no matter how many times the phrase “four-door coupe” is repeated, the CLS is still a sedan. To our eyes, then, this is a CLS five-door station wagon—a stunningly good-looking one—even though Mercedes refers to it as a “sporty hatchback version.” Lamenting the fact that this is yet another wagon we won’t get? Join the support group in Backfires.

Thanks to: Car and Driver