2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE coupe and cabriolet confirmed for Australia

Mercedes-Benz has streamlined its two-door offerings, dropping the C- and E-Class coupes to focus on just one luxury coupe and cabriolet, the 2024 CLE.

It’s a move Merc has pulled before with the CLK in 1997 which used C-Class underpinnings but E-Class styling to cover both market segments.

Coupe deliveries will begin in November for Europeans, with cabriolets following in early 2024. Australian pricing and specification is yet to be confirmed, but both coupe and drop-top versions will arrive locally in the second half (July-December) of 2024.

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The CLE’s front end is visually tied to the ‘W206’ C-Class sedan, and looks very different to the larger E-Class sedan. An upturned, conventional-looking grille and swooping lines combine with a lower snout and broader jowls to give the coupe and convertible a sportier visage than the sedans.

In profile, Mercedes-Benz has incorporated hip and shoulder details into the CLE, with body lines that gesture towards a classic Coke bottle coupe shape. Around the rear is even less C-Class, with a sharp and expensive-looking LED lighting signature inspired by the EQ design family and twin trapezoidal exhaust tips.

The CLE is bigger than the C-Class coupe it effectively replaces, and the existing W206 C-Class sedan. It measures 4850mm long (+59mm), 1860mm wide (+36mm), with a 22mm lower roofline (1428mm). Confirming it sits on C-Class underpinnings is its 2865mm wheelbase, an inch longer than the car it replaces but identical to the sedan.

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Interior design

If the CLE channels the C-Class outside, then inside its 12.3-inch digital instrument display and portrait-oriented 11.9-inch touchscreen with the latest MBUX software are very much E-Class. Dynamic ambient lighting offers 64 selectable colours and has been extended to the rear seats.

An optional Burmester sound system is available, this incorporates two speakers into each front seat’s headrest for an immersive audio experience. The CLE features a leatherette loop to fold the front seats and access the two jump-seats in the back rather than a lever.

Safety systems from the E-Class are also incorporated. These include driver attention assist, active brake assist, AEB with pedestrian, cyclist, junction detection, active lane-keep assist, speed limit assistant and ‘Distronic’ parking sensors.

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Powertrains on offer

Globally, Mercedes-Benz will offer five powertrains on the CLE. All from the FAME architecture (FAmily of Modular Engines is the acronym) featuring 48-volt mild-hybrid technology with a 17kW/200Nm electric power boost.

Australia is likely to skip the CLE220d and CLE200 4Matic, instead the CLE200 2.0-litre four-cylinder with rear-wheel drive making 150kW/320Nm will probably be the most affordable engine. It gets the CLE coupe from 0-100km/h 7.4 seconds.

Also possible is the mid-spec CLE300 4Matic producing 190kW/400Nm for a quicker 100km/h dash in 6.2 seconds. The global flagship (until AMG models arrive, of course) is the CLE450, a 3.0-litre petrol inline-six with 280kW/500Nm and all-wheel drive. The ’six could come to Australia, though the non-AMG E400 variant was discontinued in the previous-shape E-Class coupe.

Plug-in hybrid powertrains are coming, but will not be available from launch. Every Mercedes-Benz CLE uses a newly-revised version of Mercedes’s nine-speed automatic transmission.

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Pricing and availability

You used to be able to get a C200 coupe from under $80K, while the base E200 two-door started over $110K. With the consolidation of medium and large coupes, expect pricing to change.

We anticipate, given the C-Class underpinnings but dearer E-Class tech, that the CLE range will open between $85-95K, with a flagship E450 reaching above into $140K, and potential AMG models dearer again.

Mercedes-Benz Australia has promised a local release of the CLE coupe and cabriolet in the second half of 2024.