2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

With its E-Class parent just redesigned, this "4-door coupe" gets its own makeover and the same new "driver assistance" features. But, the next CLS-Class won't seem as startling as the first-generation model did--and it faces stiff competition.

What We Know About the 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class

Mercedes-Benz has redesigned its E-Class sedans, so a new version of the related CLS-Class can't be far off, right? Well, yes and no. The pioneering "4-door coupe" is getting its own stem-to-stern makeover, but it probably won't reach North America until early 2011 as a 2012 entry.

The CLS-Class bowed in 2004 as a costlier, sexier take on the mainstream E-class premium-midsize sedan that remains one of Mercedes' most profitable products. Confounding some in the automotive media, but proving again that styling always sells, the CLS-Class has been a hit with well-heeled fashionistas, exceeding Mercedes' initial sales estimates by no less than 40 percent. Never mind that this is a "niche" model even by Mercedes' standards, with about 170,000 delivered in the roughly six years through the summer of 2010. Every CLS-Class sale is valuable "plus business" that the famed German brand would have otherwise missed.

Not surprisingly, the CLS-Class formula has inspired other bucks-up coupe-style 4-doors such as BMW's X6 quasi-SUV, the 2010 Porsche Panamera, the 2010 Aston Martin Rapide, and 2011 Audi A7. Even Volkswagen has joined in with a "junior CLS-Class," the CC sedan.

So how does the original get back ahead of this pack? Mainly, sources say, with a bevy of "driver assistance" features borrowed from the latest E-Class and S-Class premium-large sedans, plus fresh styling. At least, that's the plan.