Current C257 generation CLS first debuted in 2018 before receiving a mid-life update in 2021. Image: Mercedes-Benz.
Mercedes-Benz’s much publicised global model reduction from 33 to 14 will reportedly claim its next casualty in August when production of the CLS officially ends after what will be almost 19 years.
The initiator of the coupe-styled sedan design that remains in full-force today, the CLS last received a mid-life update in 2021, three years after the unveiling of the current C257 model, which seemingly will also be its last as no replacement based on the all-new E-Class is being considered.
With Benz’s axe having already fallen on the SLK/SLC and more recently, the coupe and cabriolet versions of the C-Class and E-Class, which all be replaced by the incoming CLE later this year, the CLS’s departure will be followed by the four-door AMG GT in 2025 and only after 2030, the CLA and its Shooting Brake offshoot.
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According to Australia’s drive.com.au, order books for the CLS had already closed despite stock remaining at some dealerships.
“Orders have ceased and production for the current CLS will end August this year in preparation for the new E-Class,” fellow Aussie publication, carexprt.com.au, quoted an unnamed Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesperson as saying.
Initially a sales success in Europe, sales of the E-Class underpinned CLS had been on a gradual decline since its first full year in 2005 when 34 982 models were sold globally.
According to the most recent statistics by automotive market analyst, Felipe Munoz, CLS sales for 2022 stood at 14 000 units, the lowest of all the three-pointed star’s combustion engine sedans, and only 1 000 more than the all-electric EQE launched in said year.
In addition to its introduction spawning several coupe-esque sedans such as the Audi A5 and A7 Sportback, the Volkswagen Passat CC and subsequently the Arteon, as well as the Gran Coupe derivatives of the BMW 2 Series, 4 Series, 8 Series and the now defunct 6 Series, the CLS also debut Benz’s now widely applied EQ Boost mild-hybrid system in 2017, before expanding the powerunit in a more powerful state of tune to the AMG CLS 53 a year later.
The CLS’s novelty also included a station wagon flavoured Shooting Brake model that only lasted for a single generation in the preceding C218, but also in AMG 63 guise in addition to the standard petrol and diesel derivatives.
Despite being earmarked for South Africa after its mentioned facelift, Mercedes-Benz South Africa opted to withdrew the CLS in 2021 without of the adaptions finding its way into the local line-up.
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