Europe chooses Car of 2026

The Mercedes-Benz brand won the previous “gold” 52 years ago – in 1974, when the prestigious award was awarded to the Mercedes-Benz 450 SE/SEL sedan. The current winner of the award is the newest Mercedes-Benz CLA, whose premiere took place last spring.

After the failure of the EQS and EQE electric vehicles, the management of the German brand made organizational conclusions. A separate EQ family was sent to a well-deserved rest: controversial, deliberately streamlined bodies turned out to be a dead-end branch.

Contrary to traditions, the new design language was not shown using the example of flagships: the style of promising Mercedes-Benz is promoted by the most affordable model! The banner was passed from the A-Class to the CLA, and essentially two were placed in one family.

Both fuel and electric modifications are produced under the same name. No more EQA: the “battery” version is called CLA with EQ Technology. Unification means compromises on architecture, overall appearance and interiors.

In terms of dimensions, the third generation Mercedes-Benz CLA caught up with the Tesla Model 3. When changing generations, the wheelbase was stretched by six centimeters, and the length/width/height increased by 35/25/29 millimeters, respectively.

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Earlier it became known that designer Gorden Wagener was leaving Mercedes-Benz. He was in charge of Mercedes design for more than a quarter of a century in a row – since 1999.

Wagener’s list of first works included the R, ML and GL SUVs, and later the stylist was commissioned to develop the design of A-, B-, C-, E-, CLK- and CLS-class cars. Another significant creation is the new generation of Gelendvagens.