New Mercedes CLA: First photos

We have the first photos of the production version of the new Mercedes CLA due to debut at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.

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The Detroit Auto Show may not be until the New Year, but the leaks are starting to come thick and fast and this time we have the first photos of the production version of the new Mercedes A-Class based swoopy coupe – the 2013 Mercedes CLA.

The photos are quite stylised, but they do look like the real deal. They also look like they’re a version of the new CLA sporting the AMG Styling Packs rather than photos of the CLA 45 AMG (the CLA 45 AMG won’t arrive until Frankfurt 2013).

We already knew what the CLA Concept looked like and, just like the new A Class before it, Mercedes look to have carried over the styling virtually unchanged from the concept to produce a very good looking small saloon.

Billed as the ‘Baby CLS’, the new CLA is heading for the US as well as Europe and looks a perfect downsizer’s car with all the style you could hope for (and all the performance to in a CLA 45 AMG that promises as much as 350bhp), proper grown-up toys and even a 4WD platform on offer.

We may have to wait until after Christmas for anything official from Mercedes, but as soon as we get it we’ll update.