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Written By admin on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 | 4:09 AM

Joining the wagon lineup from Mercedes-Benz this year is the new CLS Shooting Brake, and it just made its debut on the show floor at the 2012 Paris Motor Show.

Staying true to the design of the CLS coupe, the CLS Shooting Brake adds on the large rear end, and receives a few small appointments that set it apart from its four-door brother.
54.7 cubic feet of storage space is available with the rear seats folded down, while you get 21 when the rear seats are upright in the rear luggage area. American cherry wood, fumed oak inlays and aluminium rails are used for the rear luggage compartment floor. For the rest of the interior trim, customers get to choose between five interior colours, five trim designs plus three qualities of leather and three wood inlay choices. Also available on AMG models are carbon-fiber appointments, and for the first time, porcelain interior bits sourced from the S-Class.
Standard air suspension at the rear of the vehicle helps to bolster the added weight that will probably be found there thanks to the added cargo room.
There will be two diesel engines and two gas engines available for the Shooting Brake. Common among all of them will be a stop/start fuel-saving function and a 7-speed automatic transmission. The base CLS 250 CDI gets its power from a 4-cylinder in-line diesel that makes 204 hp and returns a mileage rating of around 44 mpg combined on the European cycle.
A step up from the base is the CLS 350 CDI diesel that makes 265 hp and nets a 39 mpg combined rating. The two gas engines sit on top of the range, one of them being a V6 that makes 306 hp and the largest being a V8 Biturbo which produces 408 hp. These two engines return combined fuel ratings of around 25 mpg and 24 mpg respectively.
In the top of the line CLS63 AMG (pictured above), a V8 Biturbo sits under the hood, putting out 525 hp, and a whopping 525 lb-ft of torque.
A host of driver-assist features are also included on the new Benz wagon, such as active blind spot assist and active lane keeping assist.
Unfortunately, the wagon is not likely to be sold here in the U.S., mainly because Mercedes already offers us the E-Class shooting brake.