Mercedes stops CLS production

Mercedes-Benz has ended production of the first generation CLS. The Mercedes CLS type C129 will be replaced by the second generation type C218 in the last quarter of 2010 after being shown off at the Paris motorshow in September.

The last Mercedes CLS to come down the production line was a black CLS550 complete with an AMG styling pack, destined for a customer in the US. The first CLS made its debut as a concept in 2003 at the Frankfurt motor show, before going into production the following year.

It was available worldwide with a variety of V6 and V8 petrol engines as well as a V6 turbodiesel. However in India, the CLC was offered in three variants; a 5461cc V8 388bhp petrol CLS 500, a 6208cc V8 514bhp petrol CLS 63AMG and a 2987cc V6 224bhp diesel CLS 320CDI. The petrol CLS 500 and CLS 63 AMG were priced at Rs 110lakh and Rs 150lakh respectively. While the diesel CLS 320 CDI had a sticker price of Rs 78lakh (prices on-road Mumbai).

Mercedes-Benz has sold more than 170,000 CLS units worldwide in the six years it was in production.