It seems that Mercedes-Benz is testing all over South Africa these days. A heavily disguised next-gen S-Class was recently spotted in Gauteng, and now the upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake was spotted doing some hot weather testing in the Nothern Cape. CAR reader D. Herholdt was able to snap a few images.
This production version of the CLS Shooting Brake is similar to the concept that was unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show in 2010. The only striking differences that we can see from these images is that the front end has been slightly tweaked between concept and production form, the side mirrors are different and in the concept, the rear quarter tapers off into a sharp point, while the production car’s rear is more rounded, most likely to make way for more rear headroom or load space. We don’t expect the rear-end to differ too much once the CLS Shooting Brake rolls off the production line.
There’s no offical word on the engine line-up, but it’s fair to expect a 4,6-litre V8 twin-turbo CLS500 and a powerful CLS63 AMG with a 5,5-litre twin-turbo V8 engine under the bonnet.