Mercedes-Benz CLS: slick pioneer out of production this year

The career of the Audi A7 Sportback has come to an end in the Netherlands, but elsewhere in the world that sportier alternative to the A6 lives on for the time being. Competitor Mercedes-Benz CLS is heading for a more definitive end. The Dutch importer confirms to AutoWeek that production of the Mercedes-Benz CLS will stop in August this year. Nothing is known about a successor, but it is not obvious that Mercedes-Benz will give the CLS a direct successor. The new E-class must pull the cart in the segment at Mercedes-Benz. Anyone who aspires to a slick-lined Benz of a decent size can switch to the electric EQE and the higher-positioned AMG GT 4-Door Coupé.

Mercedes-Benz Vision CLS: the preview that started it all in 2003.

With the first generation CLS presented by Mercedes-Benz in 2004, the brand had found a relatively new niche. The CLS was an alternative for those who found the E-class Limousine too traditional. The car was preceded by the Vision CLS, a study model that debuted at the Frankfurt IAA in 2003. It would take until 2010 before Audi had prepared a competitor with the A7 Sportback based on the then current A6. BMW expanded its 6 Series in 2011 with an alternative: the 6 Series Gran Coupé. The 6-series Gran Coupé no longer exists, the 6-series was – except for the 6-Series Gran Turismo – renamed 8-series after its most recent generation change. An 8-series Gran Coupé still exists.

The second generation CLS was also available as the CLS Shooting Brake.

The current third-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS can still be ordered for the time being. It is available in the Netherlands as CLS 350, CLS 450, CLS 220d, CLS 300d, CLS 400d and as a sportier Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 4Matic. The starting price of the Mercedes-Benz CLS is just under 89 grand.

Mercedes Benz CLS in the Netherlands

Spread over three generations, Mercedes-Benz has sold 2,156 copies of the CLS in the Netherlands between 2004 and now. In its first full sales year – 2005 – 383 copies were delivered in our country. That was the best year the CLS would have here. Until the arrival of the second-generation CLS in 2010, annual deliveries of the ‘primal CLS’ gradually declined. The arrival of the second CLS – of which a Shooting Brake variant also appeared – led to a revival in the number of CLS customers. In 2011, the second-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS made it to 305 copies. Just like we saw with the first CLS, interest in the second generation CLS also dropped after the first full year of sales. And rap too. In 2012, 131 copies were registered. In 2014 there were only 61. In 2015, 93 units still found a Dutch owner, but 2016 and 2017, with successively 31 and 47 registrations, were by no means top years for the CLS. The current third generation was in Dutch showrooms from 2018. In its introduction year, 71 units were registered. In 2019, 50 Dutch consumers opted for the slippery four-door, in 2020 and 2021 only 21 and 15. Last year, the Dutch delivery counter remained at 22 units. This year 3 copies have been registered.