Mercedes-Benz Shooting Break

Mercedes-Benz To Build "Shooting Break" CLS

Mercedes Benz continues to try and redefine what is meant by a luxury coupe by greenlighting the "Shooting Break" for production, which means it will soon enter Mercedes showrooms slotted, price-wise, between the E-Class and CLS Class.

The car, which debuted at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, has five doors with an actual rear cargo area. It will be built at Mercedes's Sindelfingen plant.

Traditionally, a "shooting brake" refers to a two-door extended-rear, coupe-based car. The term stems from the 19th century, and was a name given to carriages used to "break" in wild horses and restrict or "brake" their urge to move, so that they would be good work horses.

The MB Shooting Break concept includes LED headlamps, a panoramic glass sunroof, a full-length center console, plus a custom leather appointed luggage compartment with a wooden floor. Under the hood is a new 3.5-liter direct-injection V-6 with 306 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. This engine is from the automaker's new "MoVe" family of engines, which feature direct injection and turbocharging technologies.

The idea of the car is probably to counter-act BMW's 5 Series Gran Turismo, which has been widely criticized for somewhat gawky styling.

Gallery: Mercedes Benz Shooting Brake