jvc300

Check this out.... Looks like CLS

http://www.zimbio.com/Mercedes-Benz/...cedes+Benz+BLS

http://www.weexy.com/2013-mercedes-benz-bls.html

This is supposed to be targeting the Audi A3....

dbtk

Is this the same as the CLA?
http://www.autoweek.com/article/2012...news/120419820

hyperion667

two different engines.......
made in Hungary....

huh.......
want to know more.....

dbtk

Do tell...

jvc300

It's rumored under CLC/CLA/BLS... This is the first I've heard of it.....

Heres some shots from the factory floor:

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/20...oor-37701.html

jvc300

+1

hyperion667

haha, I meant I want to know more too......the articles do not divulge that much

jvc300

I agree with you! One of the articles stated that the BLS is supposed to come to the states sometime early in 2014. I was hoping some others may post some additional info....

BenzV12

I would like to see what ALS would look like lol
Well, this is like baby CLS

RobbieRob

Thats exactly what it is, a baby CLS. It is based on a c class platform, so just like the way the E/CLS share drivtrain,chassis, so will this and the C.

BM2BZ

i thought it's a 2013 bs when i first looked at the title .

dfordham

If it is the CLA, based on the CSC concept car that Dieter showed off in China this year, I believe it is based on the A Class chassis. It is to be priced below the C Class.

Here are test mule photos:
http://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-new...-ar129957.html

Regards,
Don

K-A

This is actually based off of the A CLASS, which IS coming to the U.S, btw (bringing M-B's product line down to cheaper, more compact, FWD levels to surge volume).

It'll be smaller than the C, and will be a FWD platform.

This car will be a baby CLS look. IMO, there goes the "exclusivity factor" of a CLS which you pay up for, as I'm sure this thing will sell mega, and be all over the roads (will be cheaper than a C-Class).

Good news for C-Class owners is, the C-Class soon will not be the "entry/baby Benz" anymore.

dfordham

Why are you so against MB being a successful car company?

If they sell a million CLA's, how does that affect the exclusivity of the CLS?

I, personally, welcome the masses being able to take advantage of the superior design and reliability of MB. How is that a bad thing unless you are a total brand snob?

Regards,
Don

K-A

M-B is already a successful car company.

I just don't like M-B as a manufacturer that has a car in everyone's garage. It isn't about snobbery, but since a kid, I've wanted to strive to get an M-B, I don't think it would be the same dynamic today. I like the M-B dynamic from back in the day, lean and focused model lineup, "entry level" was still expensive, etc. It's what made me lust after M-B's, that along with upholding the qualities of those price tags are what gave M-B that everlasting "cachet" is has today. Yeah, I get it, they need to adapt, etc., but I don't have to like it.

The CLS is a car who's priced highly because of exclusivity-factor, because it's based directly off of a cheaper car. Having a mini-CLS just over-exposes and dilutes the CLS look. There are many CLS owners who I'm sure won't be thrilled about it.

As a car enthusiast, I keep myself on an emotional level when it comes to cars, purposefully.

dfordham

I understand, but, of course, that exclusivity factor of the CLS is short lived more by the competition than by what MB is doing. From the VW CC to the BMW Gran Coupe, it's being copied and will become idiomatic until a real innovator, like MB, comes out with the next design innovation.

Remain faithful, my friend.

Regards,
Don

K-A

I will try, Sir.

That's true in how the CLS has remain so copied by others. People are so used to M-B innovating, they'll jump at the first chance to dog how they "innovate less than they did before" (OF COURSE THEY DO! They practically invented ever modern element of the car world that we are enjoying today, lol). The CLS isn't a technical innovation at all (purely aesthetic innovation which is actually a different tune of innovation compared to M-B's past), but I feel that people give too little credit to M-B for actually marketing and designing around said marketing, a whole new, extremely successful and vastly mimicked segment.

Manufacturers try and start new "niche's" all the time, most are failed embarrassments that do them more harm than good (BMW's 5 GT is a good example, and to my eyes as is the hideous monstrosity that is the X6, but it seems that it definitely has its fans as well), but M-B created maybe the most revolutionary modern niche concept today.... and I'm saying that as someone who doesn't buy into the "oh cool, a "4 Door Coupe" thing myself either.

Tjdehya

I guess, Im a snob.
I like the fact that not everyone can buy a new Benz.
I like the fact that people see my car and believe that its worth more that the new M5 sitting right next to me.
I like that when I pull into a casino in Vegas and instead of parking it in the valet lot they showcase it in front of the casino till I return... No waiting for valet... why? Cuz its a Benz.

When you start making "toyotas" with a three point star then all of that will be lost.

K-A

I agree. It's not about snobbery, at least in my head. I like the idea of striving to own a Benz. M-B has a high cachet because of that historic fact (people striving to own it, etc.). These days, it still enjoys that cachet, but it's not as much a reality due to how accessible it's becoming.

WEBSRFR

So this is for people who want a C class "coupe" with "four doors?"

Hope Mercedes does not relive the disaster Jaguar created with the S type and X type. They went so far down the ladder that they ended up selling cars that were really not Jaguars.

RobbieRob

Nice, couldn't agree more....

hyperion667

I could honestly care less how many are out there...........isn't something that concerns me.....I really cannot imagine other CLS drivers feeling any different.........

"aw man, there goes another one honey, we should just get rid of this CLS"

NOT

K-A

It just depends on the person. I actually have seen people (CLS owners or shoppers) on the CLS board here, and the "MB Advisors" site I think it was, complain about a possible CLS350 coming to the States, as it would "dilute the model line". The CLS is a niche market car, and its price premium is primarily built out of the marketing aspect that the cars less practical nature, along with its artificially high price tag (technically speaking, a CLS550 shouldn't cost anywhere near $12-$20 or whatever K more than its brother E550), makes it something you'll have "more to yourself".

I feel the CLS is more prone to this effect than even the more expensive S-Class. Why? Because the S has a functional aspect built into its price.... the sheer size and room, for one. The CLS is a vanity-first car, and M-B openly markets it as such.

Anyway, the CLS isn't really the culprit here. My argument is that, as M-B over-saturates its model line with cheaper, smaller, FWD, more accessible cars, their upcoming generations get less enticing to me.

Yes, seeing the Star grille on everything from a small SUV to FWD minibus Hatchback (A/B-Classes) to huge utility Van, especially when they're all designed with the same language as the $130K SL, makes higher up M-B's less appealing to me (I sat in an SL, and there's so aesthetic much parts sharing, and design sharing, it's hard to figure out where that $130K is coming from).

Of course, I admit, my attachment to M-B is almost primarily emotional, along with visual. Yes, they have the best quality, IMO, but I can find good quality elsewhere. Yes, they're the safest, but I can get almost comparable safety elsewhere. M-B's biggest selling point to me is still making me feel like I'm buying the car I strived for every since I was a little kid.

BenzV12

I am not upset or unhappy when I see MBs on the roads , parking lots and everywhere . MB has been doing almost everything minus motobikes . Their buses and trucks are great ones too .

Well, I think MB is still an exclusive brand and prestigious car no matter what and being an common ride doesn't damage that

I saw three W212s Friday afternoon in the supermarket's parking lot and the day before I "inaccidentally" juxtaposed my W212 right next to the other W212

S Class is however an exclusive of the exclusive if you ask me but no matter what if I had to buy another MB I would pick up W212 again

To your relief , I see more Iphones then Nokia N8 and being rarity doesn't make my N8 better than Iphone lol

bradshaw46

Haven't we seen this movie? (see X-Type, Jaguar - 1Series, BMW, or even Cimmaron, Cadillac ) I understand that M-B, just like any other car company, wants to move volume and make money - I get it. But part of the reason I bought a Benz is because not *everyone* has one, or can afford one. If I wanted what everyone else drove, I'd have bought a Camry or an Accord. I just think that when car companies try to accommodate everyone at both ends of the economic scale, it ultimately becomes a disaster. Exclusive brands are just that - exclusive - and are as such for a reason. I don't expect to be able to buy a Bentley, and even if I could, I don't want the one I could just barely afford. When I get an exclusive brand, I want to join that 'exclusive' club and want everyone to know I worked my @ss off to get it. Not a vanity statement, but an achievement in and of itself. Just my take on it.