Mercedes streamlines the CLA Shooting Brake to create an aerodynamic electric load lugger

These are the first official images of the 2026 Mercedes CLA Shooting Brake. Following the footsteps of the CLA saloon, and unveiled at the saloon’s launch event in Copenhagen, the Shooting Brake will be Mercedes’s first dedicated EV estate car when it arrives towards the end of this year.

We’ve already driven the CLA – with a report to follow – and the Shooting Brake will be mechanically identical. That means a shedload of clever aero and engineering tricks to maximise the range and efficiency. The longer roof on the Shooting Brake model should improve the aerodynamics even further, promising to increase the range still further.

The new CLA marks a departure for Mercedes as it rewrites its electric strategy, usurping the standalone series of electric EQ cars – EQE, EQE SUV, EQS and EQS SUV – in favour of bring EVs back into the main model line. That’s mainly because the EQ models haven’t fared quite as well as the company hoped – it’s a similar story over at Audi and BMW.

Starting with the CLA sedan (which the company insists on calling the ‘Mercedes-Benz CLA with EQ Technology’ in order to bridge the gap), there’ll be more EVs sharing platforms with PHEV models in the future. The original CLA arrived in 2013 as a ‘four-door coupé’, with the Shooting Brake – a slightly truncated but nonetheless svelte estate car, arriving in 2015. This is the third generation of the model, previewed by the remarkably prescient Concept CLA at Frankfurt in 2023.

Apart from the elongated side profile and tapering rear hatch, there’s not a lot of difference between the two cars. The Shooting Brake is just 1mm higher than the sedan, mainly to accommodate the nearly 2m long one-piece panoramic sunroof which can be switched electronically from clear to opaque. An illuminated version of the Mercedes star pattern found on the grille and the dash also adorns the sunroof.

At 4.73m long, the ‘compact’ CLA isn’t far off the maximum dimensions of 70s and 80s-era flagship Mercs. That means more space inside for passengers and cargo than in the earlier model, with 455 litres of rear load space, rising to 1,290 litres with the back seats folded down. An additional 101 litres can be stowed in the modest frunk.

The electric Shooting Brake will be available in two models, the CLA 250+ and the CLA 350 4MATIC. Both have an 85kWh battery. Mercedes is claiming up to 761km of range in the official cycle, an impressive 472 miles. Find a suitably high-speed charger and nearly 200 miles can be added in just ten minutes.

Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake, available soon, details at Mercedes-Benz.co.uk