Mercedes-Benz confirms production of the CLS wagon in 2012

A wagon version of the Mercedes-Benz CLS sedan will go into production in 2012, the automaker said on Monday. The announcement confirms an AutoWeek report in January that the CLS wagon was more than just a concept. Go to www.autoweek.com/article/20100106/CARNEWS/100109973 to read the original report.

The wagon was shown as the Shooting Break concept at the Beijing motor show in April. Mercedes changed the name from “Shooting Break” to “Shooting Brake” for the production version.

“The decision to build the CLS Shooting Brake underscores the leading role of Mercedes-Benz in regards to innovative passenger-car concepts and design,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said. “And that is exactly what the customers expect from us.”

The Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake has the roofline of a coupe with a long nose, narrow windows and a sloping rear end. It features a wider grille based on the SLS design language. The wagon, like the sedan, will sit on a modified version of the Mercedes E-class platform.

The CLS Shooting Brake will be built at Mercedes' Sindelfingen, Germany, plant.

Engine choices for the CLS sedan will include a 3.5-liter V6 making 306 hp, a 4.7-liter V8 making 435 hp and the top-of-the-line 5.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 making about 555 hp. We expect similar choices for the wagon.

By Jake Lingeman