Front-wheel drive models from BMW (Concept Active Tourer previewing 1-Series GT) and Mercedes-Benz are on their way. The A-Class has been sold in Europe for years, but it never made its way to the United States. Word currently is that the car won’t be sold here, but that the CLA will.
CLA is a small new, CLS-like front-wheel drive sedan based on the Mercedes Front Architecture. MFA underpins the A-Class, B-Class, CLA and an upcoming small crossover. Mercedes has apparently deemed that the hatchback A-Class won’t go over well in the U.S. We’re quite enamored with it actually, even if the platform underpinning it is hard to get over.
Autoblog has posted pictures of the CLA captured in Iceland, preparing for a photo shoot. If you’ll remember, the A-Class was caught in a similar fashion. Good job Brenda Priddy & Co. The CLA was previewed by the Concept Style Coupe in Los Angeles. Many of the design themes from that car remained, but they have been considerably toned down for production. The rear end is really stylish, like a mini-CLS. The front however we aren’t so sold on yet. There are some awkward angles and we think the design better fits the A-Class. These are just initial pictures though, and they aren’t the most flattering in lighting or angles either.
We’ll have to wait for more to get a clearer idea. Anyhow though, we expect this thing to be a hit for Mercedes here and around the globe. The CLA will debut as a 2014 model, going on sale next year. The good news is that the AMG version of the car will get the new Mercedes M133 2.0-liter four-cylinder making an incredible 370 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. That power is put to the pavement through a rear-biased all-wheel drive system. Now that’s an MFA-based CLA we could live with. For more images, check out the Autoblog gallery.
