Mercedes-Benz CLA250+ with EQ Technology and CLA350 4Matic with EQ Technology are expected to go on sale toward the end of 2025.

An electric version of Benz’s global best seller debuts the company’s all-new software defined EV architecture.

Powering the internal-combustion version of the CLA is a 1.5-liter four-cylinder Miller-cycle engine. Dubbed the M 252 internally by Mercedes-Benz, this turbocharged four-cylinder works with an electric motor that’s integrated within the eight-speed transmission.

The electric subcompact sedan is capable of going 492 miles on a charge — at least, according to the test used in Europe.

The German automaker's newest entry-level model carries the company's legacy into an electrified, and hybridized, future.

Mercedes is also bucking the traditional method of introducing a new platform as an ICE vehicle and then wedging the design into an EV platform. Instead, the company is going “EV first,” launching the CLA as an EV first and then later as an internal combustion with a mild hybrid in 2026.

With a profile that renders the larger CLS-Class in miniature, the Mercedes-Benz CLA gets a more curvaceous look come fall when it goes on sale. Looking much like the 2023 Concept CLA-class, the entry-level 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class is still as sexy as ever.