At the Auto China motorshow in 2010, Mercedes-Benz previewed the design language of the current, second-generation CLS sports saloon with the Shooting Brake concept car, which generally received positive reviews.
It didn’t take long for the premium carmaker to announce its intention to expand the range of the CLS series with a second body style based on that study, while the company even confirmed that the Shooting Brake model would arrive in dealerships during 2012.
Over the months that followed, we saw several scoops of the CLS Shooting Brake, and now our spy shooters travelled all the way to northern Sweden to film the sleek five-door model during winter testing.
Compared to the concept model, the only noteworthy changes we can see concern the slightly stretched rear window panes and the marginally higher roofline, which should add some valuable inches of space for both passengers and their luggage.
Having the CLS sports saloon in its arsenal, Mercedes was able to veer closer to the station wagon category than the Audi A7 Sportback, though as you can see in the video (about 2 minutes into the clip), the Sporting Brake has far more elegant lines and a sportier shape than traditional estates like the E-Class Wagon parked beside it.
Mercedes won’t tell us yet what kind of powerplants will be offered on the CLS Shooting Brake, but it’s safe to assume that it will get the same engines as the sedan ranging from a 2.2-liter turbo diesel with 204HP for Europe to a 5.5-liter bi-turbocharged V8 with up to 557-horsepower and 800 Nm of torque in the CLS 63 AMG.
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