Mercedes-Benz CLE

Picturing a mid-sized Mercedes luxury coupé like the new Mercedes-Benz CLE may not feel like an especially modern thing to do, two-door coupés being a relatively niche offering these days – mostly the preserve of the big three premium German manufacturers: Mercedes, Audi and BMW.

Of them all, over the decades it's Mercedes that has most spoilt us for choice with plenty of desirable two-door GT cruisers. And yet, rather sadly, it can no longer afford to. A consolidation process of the company’s combustion-engined offerings has been creeping quietly forward for a while now, as Mercedes finds the R&D cash it needs for its electrified models by cutting others. It robbed us of a replacement for the pretty ‘C217’ S-Class Coupé as long ago as 2020, and it has now cut the firm’s smaller coupé and cabriolet model by half.

So instead of individual replacements for both C-Class and E-Class two-doors, we get this new CLE Coupé and Cabriolet. Based on the same model platform as both the C-Class and E-Class families, it’s intended to answer the desire of owners of the last-generation C-Class Coupé for a more spacious cabin, as well as that of owners of the outgoing E-Class Coupé for a slightly sportier and more engaging drive.

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