Mercedes-Benz India launches CLS300D four-door coupe for thin, glamourous people

Mercedes-Benz India launches CLS300D four-door coupe for thin, glamourous people

₹84.7 lac buys you the leading edge of Mercedes design, but not much headroom

Ever since the first CLS launched back in 2004, Mercedes has shown the way as far as “four-door coupes” are concerned. Basically, a sedan that looks like a sports car with two too many doors. As a design, it worked beautifully then, as it does now. Just don’t put tall people, or those with prodigious posterior padding in the back seat, because rear headroom is the price you pay for the sex appeal. Even with my alarmingly low body-fat, I was able to bump the roof in the rear by just straightening up.

The global success of the CLS spawned a swathe of me-too designs, even filtering into SUVs, occasionally with unfortunate effect. The third-generation 2019 model we see here has retained the classic CLS shape, but is now longer and wider. There’s clearly been some facelifting and changes to the rear to ease into Mercedes’ next design language evolution. Headlamps are unusually small for this land yacht, and the tail lamps are split and very much like you’d see on some rival German cars.

Mercedes is only launching the CLS300D in India with a 2.0-litre diesel engine generating 245hp and 500Nm. Top speed is 250kmph and 0–100 comes up in 6.4s. Not bad for a car that’s long enough to cover two PIN codes. The CLS is a sporty sedan, and the form comes with compromises. Smart, then, that the BS6-compliant engine is a diesel, giving you that grunt and efficiency. Also smart is the inclusion of adaptive air suspension, which also allows you to manually raise the ride height. The show car came all jacked up and looked weird, but we’d rather look like we’re driving a crazy coupe crossover than deal with expensive underbody repairs.

Other standard features include the multi-beam LED headlamps with a 650m(!) high-beam range, a 13-speaker Burmester sound system, and a 12.3" media display screen. The entire dash is a singe glass panel, with two separate screens that look like one. This is similar to what we’ve seen in the S-Class. The interior has a mix of elements from recent Mercedes models, like the turbine-inspired air vents, and the new-gen steering wheel with touch controls. The vents are even illuminated, as is the rest of the car, with 64-colour ambient lighting. The interior feels extremely plush, and the new design direction gets steadily more futuristic with successive Mercedes models.

The CLS300D is available as a fully-imported CBU for ₹84.7 lac ex-showroom, and the 2-year service package costs ₹90,000.