Mercedes Benz CLA 2026: Revolution in the Entry Level Luxury Segment

Exteriors: Sedan with Coefficient of drag 0.21

The new Mercedes Benz CLA is 2nd car on our page with 2nd highest Coefficient of drag 0.21 after Xiaomi SU7.  From out side the Mercedes Benz CLA looks fresh and carries some of the DNA from its predecessor and many similarities with EQS. Honestly speaking, the Mercedes Benz CLA is not a super attractive car at first glance by its exteriors, however there are lot small details that Mercedes Benz has worked on it. For example the from grill has start shaped 128 LED lights, the front lamps have again a star shaped LED lights which looks awesome. Also the headlamps are connected by a LED light, which is nowadays common design element in most of VW Group cars. Honestly it looks too much but we will figure out in upcoming days when we will drive. From side profile you will notice its a slick and aerodynamic car which is having design elements from its prototype EQXX with 1000 km+ range capabilities in real world conditions. This is the main reason that the Mercedes Benz CLA is not so extraordinary looking but having best coefficient of friction for best efficiency for both ICE powered, Hybrid and EV versions. At the back the Tail Lamps are connected with long LED light running across its width having small Star LED lights. The tail lamps also has Star LED lamp which catches your attention. Overall the Mercedes Benz CLA has followed the curve design elements with no sharp edges which gives distinct road presence. Additionally, there are minor cosmetic features to distinguish between EV, Hybrid and ICE power train Mercedes Benz CLA. We expect to have a wagon/estate version of Mercedes Benz CLA as well, that looks cool as well as practical.

Interiors: Standard Mercedes + AI

The interiors of Mercedes Benz CLA have standard Mercedes Benz interior feeling as that of C and E Class. The Mercedes Benz CLA will have 3 screens, 10.25 Inch for driver display, 14.6 Inch for central infotainment and passenger side 14 inch display as optional. The downside is that there are no physical buttons for Air Con which is a Big No! What you can do withe these 2 screens (Central and Passenger) is that you can play video games, take video call from your office, you can watch videos/ movies. The Mercedes Benz CLA is equipped with the latest version of MB.OS having AI functionality (Chat GPT, Netflix, Google Gemini). I am not sure if these functions are necessary to anyone? Besides Infotainment and Maps, honestly more screens = more distractions! Besides the interiors are stitched with sustainable materials that are up cycled and recycled. The rear seats might not be the best place for tall people as the seating will be a bit cramped and the head room is less due to the design language. In some variants you can get a large glass roofing that could improve the feeling of spaciousness. Overall the interiors looks up class and you get the feeling what you have paid for. 

Performance: 0 to 100 kmph in 4.9 secs*!

The Mercedes Benz CLA will be launched in EV, Hybrid and ICE petrol powered variants. The top end EV version of Mercedes Benz CLA 350 4MATIC all wheel drive can go from 0 to 100 kmph in just 4.9 seconds! Thats a serious upgrade to the Mercedes Benz CLA! TheCLA 350 4MATIC version will be equipped with dual motor setup and 85 kWh lithium ion nickel cobalt battery gives this insane performance. However this CLA 350 4MATIC EV is weighing about 2135 kg! Which just short of 300 kg from the G-Wagon Petrol Hybrid variant. Indeed its a heavy car. The other EV variant is CLA 250+ a single motor rear wheel drive can do similar sprint in 6.7 seconds with more range.The other ICE and Hybrid versions have sluggish performance as the with power figures ranging from 136 bhp to 163 bhp, and 4Matic pertrol powered variant with 192 bhp. There is a strong chance that the variants CLA180, CLA200, CLA250 and CLA250e will be equipped with Mercedes-Renault jointly developed engines. Mercedes has ditched the diesel variant mentioning that all the ICE powered variants are highly refined and capable of achieving diesel equivalent efficiency. Mercedes hasn't announced the AMG variant yet but we might expect in near future. Overall, the entry level Mercedes Benz CLA will have below average performance and as you higher the performance will be better!

Features and Safety: AI, 3 Screens, 792 km*

From features perspective, the entry level cars from the luxury brands are a big compromise, since they give you a feeling that you drive a Mercedes (With Renault engine) and mediocre features. However, I believe that the Mercedes Benz CLA might be or not might be an exception. I said this because, in terms of features the Mercedes Benz CLA has 3 screens with AI assistance and you can do all the things with the car as you do with your phone or laptop or a tablet. So its another smart connected car that most features you wont be able to use. The EV variant of CLA250+ is capable of returning 792*km WLTP range on a single charge! This is more than the existing EQS variant! In Terms of safety features the Mercedes Benz CLA wil be equipped with multiple Air Bags (Front, Side and Curtain), ADAS level 2 where it will have autonomous driving capabilities with requirement of driver intervention such as Adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist. In terms of NCAP rating the Mercedes Benz CLA 2026 is yet to be tested, however the predecessor version had 5 Star safety rating with 99% adult and 91% child safety. We can expect that the Mercedes Benz CLA will do better on the safety assist parameter due to ADAS level 2. In terms of practicality, the Mercedes Benz CLA has 405 liters of storage capacity with additional 70 liters of storage only for EV variants. Overall the Mercedes Benz CLA is safe and feature rich car with decent practicality if your height is below 6 ft in case you are sitting in rear seats.

Pricing and Availability

The official pricing of Mercedes Benz CLA 2026 variants is yet to be announced. But our guess is that the Mercedes Benz CLA might start from €45.000 for sure the EV and Hybrid variants will cost more! The Mercedes Benz CLA will be available of sale in Q1 2026, therefore we have 9 months to go to officially test it. The Mercedes Benz CLA will launch in Europe, Asia and American continents simultaneously. We will try our best to give you a detailed review once we get hands on driving experience.

Summary

At a glance the Mercedes Benz CLA 2026 is yet a refreshed car with all the modern tech along with EV, Hybrid and ICE power train choices. The only missing part is Diesel variant as Mercedes Benz said few months ago that it will offer all the variants as customer demands. However we may not see the Diesel variant due to high production cost, strict emission norms and diesel ban in near future on entry level passenger vehicles. Overall the new CLA looks a promising car for entry level segment, however the pricing might be challenge in order to compete against Chinese EV's even in global market.
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Image Credits: Official website of Mercedes Benz and Autoevolution.com

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