“This is our formula for success – get them into the brand early, and keep them for life.” That unabashed claim is pulled from the press literature of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz CLA, so apologies for that, but it’s actually somewhat substantiated. From the front the styling changes are subtle, with a reshaped grille and more slender LED headlights. From the side the changes are more obvious; the character lines have been ironed out, giving the CLA a smoother, more streamlined appearance. The rear has been altered, too; the former large openings flanking the bumper are now narrow slits, and the licence plate has migrated to the bumper from the trunk lid, which is wider and now integrates a portion of the taillights, giving the rear end a wider, cleaner appearance.
The tidying up of the styling carries into the cabin, which is sleeker and less cluttered. My test car is equipped with the optional 10.25-inch widescreen, which sits prominently behind the steering wheel, unencumbered by a visor or cowling. It has two portions: straight ahead from the driver’s seat is a configurable instrument display with three possible layouts, and to the right is a multimedia touchscreen, which displays navigation, entertainment, drive mode, and vehicle info. It can also be controlled by a laptop-like touchpad on the centre console. A 7-inch TFT instrument display is standard.
Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) is now included, and it controls numerous functions via various inputs. It recognizes hand gestures and can be programmed to call up various functions by moving your hand above the centre console. Lacking time to program this function, the central screen often changed displays while gesturing during normal conversation.
More conveniently, many functions can also be called up by declaring, “Hey Mercedes,” which activates the MBUX voice control. Using a normal tone it worked well for setting the climate control and selecting a destination for the navigation system, among a few other commands, though limited seat time prevented me from further exploring the system’s capabilities. An interesting aspect of the MBUX voice control is that it will only recognize the voice that initially called it up after turning on the car, thus avoiding any confusing commands called up by other passengers.
The 2.0-litre turbocharged four returns, paired to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Horsepower has been boosted to 221 from 208, while peak torque remains the same at 258 lb.-ft. It can propel the CLA from zero to 100 km/h in 6.3 seconds.
A comprehensive suite of driver assists is available, including adaptive cruise control, lane-change and lane-keep assist, active brake assist, traffic sign assist (identifies traffic signs and issues a warning if you, for instance, attempt to turn the wrong way onto a one-way street), blind-spot warning, and active steering assist. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are standard.
The CLA is the second-best selling sedan for Mercedes, next to the C-Class. With the A-Class now acting as the Mercedes’ entry-level car, the CLA has moved up a rung into a more preferential role. As such, Mercedes has dropped the front-drive variant, and only the 4Matic will be available. This also means that the starting price will go up. Pricing will be announced as the 2020 CLA approaches market launch in the fall, but the current front-drive CLA 250 starts at $40,300, with the 4Matic version staring at $42,500. Expect the 2020 CLA to start at a price closer to the latter, probably more. For comparison, the 2019 A 220 starts at $35,000.
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