CLA (C117) [Spyshots] 2013 Mercedes-Benz CLA coupe (spyshots & info)

[Wolfgang]

Mercedes-Benz CLA caught uncovered ahead of reveal

 

[K-A]

Jesus, what a mess. Every single styling trend today is on this car. It reminds me of Thanksgiving, when you eat so much crap that you shouldn't eat any more.... yet you keep piling on the different foods.... you know you'll feel terrible tomorrow, but today, you just keep mixing it all up.... piling it all in. Heavy handed stylistic gluttony at its finest.

 

[Merc1]

I agree. All they would need to do is get rid of the stupid side lines and fix the headlights, they should be smaller. I hope the official pics looks better, but they probably won't.


M

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Jesus, what a mess.

I agree. All they would need to do is get rid of the stupid side lines

Lol...I was wondering with the "Line twins" were going to comment!

I actually have to agree with you all here. Just looks bad on such a small car.

 

[K-A]

And it's not just the messy lines. It's the "ricer" style rear bumper vents (really, in a low powered FWD car? Mercedes is better than this), the hugely clunky headlights, the giant gaping holes in the front bumper, the two tone roof, etc. It's just too much all at once, the car looks very unresolved and looks as if it's done by immature designers.

 

[Gianclaudio]

Is incredible how cheap looking this CLA is. Mercedes made the same ugly "obvious conversion" that Fiat, Peugeot, Renault, VW, etc do to their euro hatchbacks in order to turn then into sedans/saloon for 3rd world countries.

Some south american examples:

Fiat Palio:

Ford Fiesta:


Peugeot 206:

Peugeot 207:

Peugeot 307:

Chevrolet/Opel Corsa:


Renault Megane:

And the worst offender ever, Renault Clio:

And looking at the spy pics I get the same feel for the CLA, like a last minute improvisation on how to take the A class hatch and turn it into a 3 volume, 4 door thing. Horrible and cheap looking

At least the USA Focus and Fiesta, or the VW Jetta are much better resolved ad isguise their hatch origins

Regards!

 

[Wolfgang]

The CLA may be delayed now, as it's not yet on the list for Paris.

Mercedes-Benz Vorstellungen auf dem Mondial de l’Automobile Paris 2012

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Mercedes is delaying everything. Must have to do with K-A and Merc1!

Hopefully they will at least give us the SLS Black series.....

 

[941benz]

This is how car could of look like.

 

[NTT]

Jesus, what a mess. Every single styling trend today is on this car. It reminds me of Thanksgiving, when you eat so much crap that you shouldn't eat any more.... yet you keep piling on the different foods.... you know you'll feel terrible tomorrow, but today, you just keep mixing it all up.... piling it all in. Heavy handed stylistic gluttony at its finest.

No wonder it seems to be lurking in the shadows, perhaps ashamed of it's looks.

 

[941benz]

It looks like Mercedes is realy ashamed of CLA so they bring back CLA concept to Paris.

 

[MAJESTIC]

This is how car could of look like.View attachment 13716

omg That is very nice.... MB screws up another design. I honestly think someone is trying to sabotage MB

 

[K-A]

Mercedes' styling seems going after the "Kia/Hyundai crowd of the luxury segment". They want short term pop, initial smoke, but their long term vision, which used to be their hallmark, is practically gone in their new designs.

Audi has become the more mature and conservatively styled, and BMW is kind of in between the two.

Mercedes is all but stylistically abandoning what partially made them initially the most powerful car brand in the world.

 

[Gianclaudio]

I honestly think someone is trying to sabotage MB

I've been thinking the same, there is no rational way Mercedes can be making this horrible cars.

 

[Wolfgang]

Some recent design quotes.

Designing for 2016: It's all about aerodynamics

By Diana T. Kurylko and Ryan Beene -- Automotive News

​

Four years from now, vehicles emerging from the world's design studios will be more aerodynamic -- and more sculpted. Extreme design will be out of favor. You'll see fewer bumps and bulges and asymmetrical shapes, the kinds of things that kept popping up in the past decade.

Glitzy, blinged-out headlights may disappear, too, but in general front ends will be more distinctive and more expressive of the brand. Wheels could be smaller, and downsized engines may allow for shorter overhangs and longer wheelbases.

But above all, designers toiling away today are driven by the need to smooth the progress of air flow over the body surface. Yes, aerodynamics is once again dictating design, though not in the way it did 30 years ago, in the era of jelly bean cars.

We're not guessing here; that's the view of several designers who discussed styling elements that will be prominent on vehicles in 2016 and beyond.

Of course, each brand will take its own approach, but general themes will emerge. They always do. "First of all, we reverse the wedge," says Gorden Wagener, Mercedes-Benz's design chief. "We are coming out of a generation that is very wedge-shaped and developed in the late '90s."

Also, he says, today's soft curves will be replaced with sculpted lines that have a defined surge or crest. At Mercedes, Wagener says: "We will go more into a drop shape, with the dropping line on the side of the car. That becomes more of our signature."

Take a look at the teaser shot Mercedes has released for next year's redesigned S class. An accent line that begins high on the silhouette, in front of the driver-side door, lowers as it runs through the rear door. Indeed, brands are trying out more interesting lines and curves.

Karim Habib, head of BMW design, says the German brand's body design philosophy is changing. "We try to break out a surface by pulling lines in and out and by puffing up the volume or flattening it to sculpt it," he says. The goal: To create a shape that looks lightweight. ​

​

 

[Gianclaudio]

Can't they just hire Pininfarina, or Bertone? A top brand deserve top designers

 

[K-A]

Lol at Gorden constantly focusing on and thinking that the "dropping line reverse wedge" is some kind of masterpiece and revolution. Shows how out of touch he is, and how they've run out of ideas. Listen to Habib in comparison, he's talking much more complex, much less obvious stuff that is truly more-so design revolution. M-B isn't even doing reverse wedge right, the cars are STILL in essence a wedge architecture, rendering the dropping line forced and non-cohesive. THIS is the problem with the reverse-wedge/dropping line that M-B incorporates, as reverse-wedge/dropping line if done properly can be a great look for a Luxury Car.

So basically, the first sentences there says that all of M-B's current designs will be dated by 2016 ("Extreme design will be out of favor. You'll see fewer bumps and bulges and asymmetrical shapes, the kinds of things that kept popping up in the past decade. Glitzy, blinged-out headlights may disappear, too")

 

[W124]

thats ugly. looks too asian.

 

[Wolfgang]

Suspect Karim Habib developed the new theme with sculpted lines that define a surge or crest together with Gorden Wagener, Steffen Köhl et al. while at Mercedes-Benz, from 2009 to 2011, when working in "advanced" design, where themes for the future are developed, and a time when efficiency including low aerodynamic drag gained importance. Mercedes-Benz published e.g. the picture below during that era which may signal some first steps into the more sophisticated and flowing direction to a certain extent, as mentioned previously.

http://www.germancarforum.com/community/threads/new-design-theme-something-has-changed.35952/

 

[Wolfgang]

First pictures of the production version CLA will be released in January, when the presentation is also expected.
Introduction in the USA market is planned in late 2013.

Mercedes once again showed the Concept Style Coupé in Paris, which should come to market in 2013 in barely changed form. The compact sedan is about as long as a BMW 3 Series and may also be seen as the little brother of the E-Class based CLS. Later, as in the case of the CLS Shooting Brake, a fresh designed CLA wagon will follow.

http://www.bimmertoday.de/2012/10/04/paris-2012-a-klasse-und-concept-style-coupe-von-mercedes