Mercedes-Benz teases new CLA-Class ahead of CES 2019 debut

Mercedes-Benz's booth at CES 2019 will showcase the automaker's most technologically advanced products, including cars and concepts new to the US.

Mercedes-Benz announced Monday that it will bring a new sedan to CES 2019. The teaser is pretty minimal, showing off the CLA's coupe-like roofline, and it's reasonable to expect that it'll be pretty similar to the A-Class Sedan when the rest of the car appears. The CLA's roof adds style, but in the last-generation car, it ate into rear headroom to an uncomfortable degree. Hopefully things will be better this time around.

Like the A-Class before it, the star of the show inside the new CLA-Class will be MBUX, Mercedes-Benz's latest and greatest infotainment system. Its AI-powered assistant can understand natural language commands, and Mercedes is teasing some new capabilities including a system that "identifies operation requests on the basis of movements." We're not quite sure what that means yet, but odds are we'll find out in just a couple weeks.

That's not all the automaker has in store for CES 2019. Mercedes will also use the tech conference to show off its EQC electric SUV in the US for the first time. A competitor for the E-Tron and , the EQC promises a pair of electric motors putting out 402 horsepower and 564 pound-feet of torque. The European rating for the EQC's range is about 280 miles, so its EPA-estimated range should be between 240 and 270 miles.

CES will also see the US introduction of the Vision Urbanetic concept. This super flexible autonomous van concept uses an electric "skateboard" platform that can have a variety of bodies slapped on top, depending on its purpose. It can function as a people-mover during the day, flipping to a cargo van hauling packages at night. It's just the kind of pie-in-the-sky thinking that CES is all about, and we can't wait to see it in person in a little over a fortnight.

Live van life in 3018 with the Mercedes Vision Urbanetic

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