2015 MERCEDES-BENZ CLS-Class Review - autoevolution

A number of years before the Bavarians started to bring into existence niche cars like the BMW X6 sports activity coupe, the three-pointed star in a laurel wreath from Stuttgart gave the world a reskinned W211 E-Class. Specifically, the W219 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class, an offspring of the Vision CLS concept that had been unveiled at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show. If you could turn back time to the 2004 New York Auto Show, you’d see yourself raising an eyebrow, thinking what in the name of all things automotive possessed Merc to dub the original CLS-Class a four-door coupe. It was a marketing stunt meant to further raise the hype surrounding this model, a feat that made many Mercedes enthusiasts condemn the four-door coupe portrayal that was (and still is) trumpeted around. “Mercedes was right with the four-door coupe label. In 1916, SAE International defined the coupe body style as an enclosed car with seating for two or three, with a fourth seat facing backwards being acceptable too. Since the CLS boasts a 2+2 seating layout, it’s unobjectionable to call it a four-door coupe. Source: www.autoevolution.com