Mercedes unveils 2019 CLA35 AMG Shooting Brake

It’s the Mercedes-AMG CLA35 4Matic Shooting Brake. All of which translates as sporty compact estate. More sporty than estate perhaps but then you can’t have a coupe-inspired profile and a cavernous boot; extra luggage versatility and larger opening are the USPs here. 

The CLA Shooting Brake, the fifth model in the new A-class family, has had an AMG version before of course but only with the number 45.  We can assume that, as with the impending hot hatch, AMG will unleash a CLA45 wagon in due course. Unconfirmed reports say that will have a satisfying 421PS (415bhp) in S form. 

For now though we have to make do with the CLA35 which,  like its hatchback counterpart, gets 306PS (302bhp),  In fact it is like its hatchback brother in most ways, apart from the Shooting Brake body. That means the same 2.0-litre turbo four-pot engine with its exceptionally high specific output, clever four-wheel drive, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, AMG aero addenda and sports cabin makeover, five drive programmes up to Sport+, and a big range of AMG options. 

One difference is that an AMG35 in Shooting Brake rather than hatchback form is larger car which weighs more, and that counts against the stopwatch: it gets to 62mph form standstill two tenths slower than the A45 hatch, but at a still brisk 4.9 seconds. 

Price is yet to be confirmed but the hatch with this engine is £35,600 and the outgoing CLA45 is £47k, so pick a number somewhere between those two.