CLS shooting brake from Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed plans to put the CLS Shooting Brake into production in 2012, with the swoopy wagon set to be built along side a handful of other Benz models at its plant in Sindelfingen.

Originally shown in concept form at the Beijing Motor Show earlier this year, the CLS Shooting Brake will likely debut in production guise early next year. The standard CLS sedan powertrains will carry over to the wagon, including the CLS63 AMG version debuting at the LA Auto Show next week.

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Mercedes-Benz prices new biturbo V8 models

Ready to experience the thrill of a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 that produces 536 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque? Unfortunately, that kind of excitement doesn't come cheap. Mercedes-Benz has announced pricing for its upcoming 2011 CL63 AMG coupe and S63 AMG sedan. The two-door starts at $151,125 and the four-door will set you back at least $138,875. Both are available with the optional AMG Performance Package, which ups the power output to 563 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque. A little lower on the power pole sits the restyled 2011 CL550 4MATIC, which starts at $114,025, and is motivated by a 4.6-liter V8 which produces 429 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque.

The 4.6-liter unit is 20 percent smaller, in terms of displacement, than the engine it replaces, yet produces 12 percent more horsepower, 32 percent more torque and improves fuel economy by 10 percent. The AMG mill also sees considerable gains in power, and thanks to direct-injection and the use of start/stop technology it sees a 20 percent rise in fuel economy

Mercedes-Benz CLS to go green

At the Mercedes press conference during last week's Paris Auto Show, the company rolled out its CLS – the car everyone was really there to see – for dessert. We couldn't have our pudding without eating our meat, though, so there were five courses served before it: the Smart Ad Lib, Smart scooter, Smart bicycle, Mercedes A-Class E-Cell, and a 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel S-Class, throughout which time Mercedes CEO Dieter Zetsche and Smart head Annette Winkler took a good thirty minutes to stress the consumer and environmental friendliness of the brand's offerings.

This will not be an isolated incident, either. Zetsche said "We want to be efficiency world champions ... and we will be," and to do so will require initiatives that were "previously unthinkable," such as the hybrid S-Class and the coming four-cylinder. While there's no timeline placed on his pronouncement, it is clear that if M-B is going to stay with BMW and Audi in the emissions and efficiency stakes it will need to take a sledgehammer to conventional ideas of the brand.

Audi has laid out its electronic initiatives and BMW has its Efficient Dynamics, but so far Mercedes has only laid out a range of different projects under no particular umbrella, such as an all-hybrid S-Class line, more efficient ICE engines, and a new range of small cars for America. We wait to see if there is one particular way M-B will ultimately go to fulfill its aim... and if that way will include euthanizing Maybach...

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