New Mercedes CLE Coupe goes on sale, priced from £47k

► New Mercedes-Benz CLE priced from £47k
► Return of an old name for sleek 2dr
► Coupe first, convertible to follow in 2024

This is the new 2023 Mercedes CLE Coupe and UK prices have been confirmed to start from £46,605. It’s a two-door coupe which will replace both the C-Class and E-Class Coupe, becoming a fresh rival for the likes of BMW 4-Series and Audi A5 in the process.

It’ll hit UK showrooms at the end of 2023 – and it’ll be followed by a drop-top variant in spring 2024 which will square up to cars such as Lexus LC Convertible and the upcoming MG Cyberster. Read our Mercedes CLE review here.

Compressing two cars into one is a bold move, especially when you consider the size, spec and price differences between the old C-Class and E-Class Coupes. But Mercedes is confident it can make do with one model, as it prunes its range to become more streamlined (and therefore cheaper to manufacture and maintain).

Buyers can choose from four trim levels: AMG Line, AMG Line Premium, AMG Line Premium Plus and Premier Edition. UK prices start at £46,605 for the entry-level CLE 200 AMG Line, climbing to £72,765 for a range-topping CLE 450 4Matic in Premier Edition.

Bianca Licina, product manager for the new CLE, told CAR: ‘We observed the market and we have been in touch with our customers from C- and E-class – and we noticed that their customer needs have developed differently. C-Class Coupe customers wanted to get a car with more size and more status, while the E-Class customer wanted to have a more dynamic and more sporty car.

‘When we did this research, we noticed that we would create two very similar cars that would be too similar to each other, if we continued this path of having two coupes. That was the reason why we said, “Hey, let’s cover both needs in one car.”

‘With the CLE, we wanted to respond to these changing conditions and we kind of redefined the coupe segment for Mercedes-Benz. That means that we will offer one coupe in the mid-size segment in the future, which will be the successor model of the C- and E-Class coupe.’

The CLE was designed to be a Swiss Army knife of a two-door. So, to serve Mercedes’s practicality-conscious coupe buyers, it has enough