Mercedes-Benz CLS

The original Mercedes CLS defined a new segment – which saw competitors spawn many imitators. Six years after it was introduced it still looks fresh and distinctive. The replacement car will be unveiled in Paris next month and, while staying true to the original CLS recipe of a four-door coupe in profile, deviates in style quite markedly from the outgoing car. It introduces the company's new design language that was previewed by the F800 and the sporting Mercedes coupe grille seen on the SLS.

Chief Designer, Gordon Wagener, says the new CLS "points the way forward for the future perceptible design idiom of Mercedes-Benz [but] takes its inspiration from the great tradition of stylish, refined sportiness which has always been a feature of Mercedes coupes". From the photos at least, we feel that historic inspiration has created some issues with the exterior design surfacing of the new car. The pronounced modern pontoon-line, diving side feature line running and rear door handle combining to visibly pinch the rear door, create some odd surface highlights and contribute seemingly excess mass to the rear flanks of the car.

Inside, the new CLS introduces a much more sporting interior that again references elements of the SLS, and distances the model from its E-Class underpinnings in a more distinct way than the outgoing car. Read our full reaction to the car when we see it in the flesh in Paris next month.