Merecedes-Benz has given us our first official glimpse of the new CLA small saloon ahead of its reveal. The new CLA, under what looks like an inch thick of camouflage, made its first public appearance at the 39^th Festival d’Hyères.

The new compact saloon’s shape differs very little from the outgoing one, and will be heavily inspired by the Concept CLA shown at the 2023 Munich motor show. Spot the circular head and taillights and an even more decontented shape for the production model inspired by that concept.

Notice anything else about the camo-clad prototype? No grille and no exhaust tailpipes – even if Merc usually adds fake ones to its non-AMG cars anyway. CAR understands that the new CLA will be available with a mix of powertrains – everything from mild-hybrid petrol engines, plug-in hybrids and a battery-electric version – as Mercedes softens its approach to EVs.

‘We are now preparing for the biggest product offensive, number of launches of new vehicles, in the history of our company, kicking it off with the first one on the MMA architecture, the CLA,’ says Merc boss Ola Källenius. ‘I was driving it around the test track today, a fantastic car by the way. I’m ever so slightly biased, but it’s unbelievable. It’s a new car ushering in a new era, and ’25-’26-’27-’28’s just going to be one vehicle after the other. The intensity of launches in that period is unprecedented for our company.’

Expect a cleaner interior for the production model, again taking inspiration from the Concept CLA. The infotainment screens will be bigger, there’ll likely be more use of light and the small model will likely be one of the first cars to use Merc’s new MB.OS infotainment system that will replace MBUX. Will we see some sort of Hyperscreen or Superscreen setup? We’ll have to wait and see.

As we will for any more official details. We’re expecting to see the new CLA make its official launch in 2025.

By Jake Groves

CAR's deputy news editor, gamer, serial Lego-ist, lover of hot hatches

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