The upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake has been spotted testing for the first time ahead of its scheduled international launch next year.
While almost identical to the standard CLA45 AMG at the front, the rear of the sport brake is expected to get an all-new AMG-styled bumper and the same quad exhausts as the A45 AMG hatchback.
The CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake is the performance variant of the planned CLA Shooting Brake range, which will become the fifth and final model selection to sit on Mercedes' MFA platform. Other models already using the compact front and all-wheel-drive architecture include the A and B-class, the new GLA and the regular CLA. The new Shooting Brake range was formally announced in 2012.
CLA Shooting Brake models will retain a similar silhouette to the larger CLS Shooting Brake, especially around the roofline; the car also appears to have kept the same rear light clusters as the standard CLA.
Powering this top-spec CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake is expected to be the same 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine as in the A45 AMG hatch. That means 355bhp and 45.9kgm of torque.
Other engines set to power the rest of the CLA Shooting Brake range should echo the current CLA line-up. That means an entry-level four-cylinder 1.8-litre diesel engine with 136bhp, rising to a 170bhp 2.0-litre unit in the AMG-tuned version. Petrol engines should be lead by a base 122bhp 1.6-litre unit, rising to a 211bhp 2.0-litre AMG unit higher up.
While both the standard Mercedes CLA compact sedan and the CLA45 AMG is expected to come to India, there is no news of the the Shooting Brake to make it to our showrooms.