REPORT: The CLS Shooting Brake has its days numbered

The modern shooting brake in the acception of Mercedes-Benz came to life in 2012, when the first generation CLS Shooting Brake was launched during autumn that year. The X 218 model series brought its inspiration from the homonymous concept car that was showcased back in 2010, as a preview of the new CLS generation that followed in October the same year. While the public received the whole new concept of a five-door coupe in an enthusiastic manner, it seems that nowadays the CLS Shooting Brake is not doing that well, or at least, not as well as Mercedes-Benz execs would have deserved.

Even though sales for this particular niche model are going fine in Europe, not the same is the situation that we encounter in USA or China, which were supposed to be key markets to propel the figures for the CLS Shooting Brake. The lack of interest shown by American and Chinese customers, who would rather prefer a roomier SUV or crossover instead of a fancy sports wagon, has reportedly determined the Stuttgart decision makers to come to the conclusion that a further generation of the CLS Shooting Brake is no longer sustainable or attractive. Beginning with the future generation CLS, which is to arrive by mid-2018, the Shooting Brake version will be discontinued.

We also learnt that the next generation CLS SB has been approved by the management in an early phase and that one regarding its overall design (the design freeze phase). Sadly though, it looks that we will never see it in full flesh. This situation also raises another question: will the CLA Shooting Brake make it past the first generation or will it eventually suffer the same conclusion?

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