CLASS ACT

MERCEDES-AMG KNOWS THE NEW CLA45 S CAN’T BE A ONE-TRICK PONY. HOW MANY ROLES CAN IT PLAY?

- CHRIS THOMPSON

JASON STATHAM?” I ask. “Tom Cruise?” Staff Journalist and fellow road-tester Louis suggests from the passenger seat. We’re trying to name an actor known to play both fun and serious roles, and wouldn’t look out of place in a suit. Why? We’re trying to decide which actor the car we’re sitting in is most like. The car we’re in is the Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S and it is not Tom Cruise. The CLA is too talented and entertaining for that, and its acting range is too broad. Cruise is the A45 S hatchback if anything.

While the CLA is mechanically very closely related to that of the A45 S hot hatch – hyper hatch if you like – it chases a rather different buyer. One looking purely for the driving experience has an easy choice: the hatch. It’s an action hero and it’s more than up to the task of entertaining. But it’s not exactly a sex symbol. Anyone who considers style an important aspect to a car will consider the CLA coupe (sedan, really) very closely. This is according to Mercedes-Benz, anyway, who will charge an extra $17,600 to be part of the CLA club, with its $111,200 asking price dwarfing that of the A45 S.