Mercedes-Benz is simplifying. Cleaning out the garage. Throwing out what doesn’t spark joy. It’s all part of a plan to pare the storied brand’s lineup down to a more manageable size, and it will reportedly mean the end of many coupes and wagons over the coming years. But they may not disappear completely.
Some will just be replaced with more precise creations.
Enter the 2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE coupe and convertible. Debuting this week, Mercedes says the car “uses the conceptual and technical innovations of the C-Class and E-Class.” That’s a diplomatic way of saying it replaces the 2-door versions of both lines, though they’ll continue separately as 4-doors.
Replacing Small and Large With Medium
It slots right between them, Goldilocks-style. Mercedes even sent journalists a helpful chart of measurements providing that it’s just a little bigger than the old C-Class coupe and a little smaller than the old E-Class coupe in most measurements.
That raises the critical question — which will it track more closely in price? The company has offered no clues.
The 2023 C-Class Coupe starts at $49,550, while the 2023 E-Class Coupe starts at $69,750. So, if the thread-the-needle logic of the measurements applies to the sticker, we expect the CLE to start around $59,650.
Organic Look Outside
It keeps those cars’ long hood/short trunk proportions but interprets them through the lens of current Mercedes design. That means a more organic look than Benz buyers have seen in recent years. The new coupe wears a bulging hood with elevated strakes and creases that emerge and fade into rounded fender lines.
The look is always risky. It threatens to look either slightly melted or like a previous-generation Mercedes overinflated. But it’s subtle enough to work well in these proportions.
Gloss and Leather Inside
The cabin borrows heavily from the current C-Class. That’s a smart move, as it has one of the most elegant interiors on the road. The same rounded-square concept inspires the prominent air vents. A 12.3-inch driver’s instrument display and 11.9-inch central touchscreen stand out from a glossy dashboard, essentially free of buttons.
The lack of knobs for volume and temperature is a bit concerning. We’ll have to drive it to determine whether this is a Tesla-style cabin plan that leaves the driver paging through touchscreen menus for even the simplest functions. Mercedes says it’s powered by the latest MBUX infotainment interface, which supports voice commands. But the early press releases don’t tell if it supports the ChatGPT-enabled conversations-with-your-car the company is testing in some models.
A 17-speaker Burmester sound system is standard equipment. Mercedes says it “allows individual instruments or voices to be placed around the listening area.”
255 or 375 Horsepower
The coupe will be offered in two trim levels.
The CLE 300 uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine that produces 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. The CLE 450 gets a turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-6 good for 375 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. Both send power to all four wheels through a 9-speed automatic transmission.
Mercedes has given details only on the coupe model but promises that a “CLE Cabriolet will follow for open-air connoisseurs.”
