Mercedes-AMG CLA 45: the new CLA’s hot sedan – revealed in Paris

The new-generation Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 4MATIC+ has gone electric: three axial-flux electric motors, up to 500 kW (680 hp) and 1,759 N·m, 0–100 km/h in 3.0 seconds, and a 94 kWh battery with 800 V architecture. The car was unveiled on 10 July 2026, and on 12 October Mercedes showed it at the Paris Motor Show among the brand’s six premieres. There are two versions — a sedan (which Mercedes calls a four-door coupe) and a Shooting Brake wagon.

Contents

• What Mercedes showed in Paris
• What hardware sits under the AMG CLA 45 body
• How far it goes and how fast it charges
• How AMG differs from a regular CLA outside and inside
• How much it costs and when you can order
• Which accessories fit the new CLA

What Mercedes showed in Paris

The Paris Motor Show 2026 runs from 12 to 18 October. Mercedes-Benz brought six premieres: the new GLA, the electric VLE minivan, updated GLE and S-Class, the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé, and the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45. All of them were shown at a media presentation in Hall 5.2 on the first day of the show. For Europe, this is not a world debut in the strict sense: the brand published the AMG CLA 45 technical specs back in July, and at the end of August opened orders in Germany. Paris became the first major auto show where the “hot” CLA can be seen in the flesh. We put together the overall picture of the show in our Paris Motor Show 2026 overview.

The main news is not in the name itself, but in what sits beneath it. The previous CLA 45 was petrol-powered with the 2.0-liter turbo M139 and 500 N·m of torque. The new one has no internal combustion engine at all and delivers three times as much pull.

What hardware sits under the AMG CLA 45 body

The AMG CLA 45 is based on the electric third-generation Mercedes-Benz CLA, which debuted in 2025 (C174 body, wagon — X174). We covered the standard versions in detail in reviews of the CLA EQ 2025 sedan and the CLA Shooting Brake 2026. The AMG has a different drivetrain:

• three axial-flux electric motors (axial-flux): one on the front axle, two on the rear;
• peak power 500 kW (680 hp), continuous — 450 kW (612 hp);
• maximum torque 1,759 N·m (in Mercedes’ German materials — 1,760 N·m);
• AMG Performance 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive with variable torque distribution.

An axial motor is flat like a disc and, with less mass, produces more torque than a conventional radial unit. The two rear motors sit in a shared module with single-speed planetary gearsets and can operate independently of each other — this is how AMG implements left-right torque vectoring and a drift mode. The front motor, according to Autocar India, can be disengaged, turning the car into rear-wheel drive.

Using the “one-foot rollout” method employed by American testers, the sedan reaches 100 km/h in 2.7 s. Top speed is electronically limited to 250 km/h, and with the AMG Dynamic Plus package — 270 km/h. The suspension is adaptive sport, with seven drive modes.

How far it goes and how fast it charges

The traction battery has a 94 kWh capacity — more than in the regular CLA, where the maximum is 85 kWh. The architecture is 800-volt, so DC fast charging runs at up to 330 kW: from 10 to 80% the battery charges in about 22 minutes, and in 10 minutes at a station you can add up to 270 km of range. On AC, the car takes up to 22 kW.

Claimed WLTP range is over 670 km for the sedan and over 640 km for the Shooting Brake; energy consumption is 16.5–19.6 kWh per 100 km depending on the version. Mercedes calls these figures preliminary; final certification is still ongoing. Sources disagree on the cell chemistry: some write LFP, others NMC; we did not find an official clarification in the press materials, so we do not assert either.

How AMG differs from a regular CLA outside and inside

The AMG is easy to recognize from the front: the signature grille with ten vertical slats (optionally illuminated), larger bumper air intakes, wider front fenders and side sills. At the rear there is a large diffuser. Wheels are 19-inch as standard, optional 20-inch; the brakes are larger. The sedan gets an active rear spoiler that deploys at speed, while the Shooting Brake has a spoiler at the roof edge.

Inside there are bucket seats, an AMG steering wheel with drive-mode switches, and a three-screen Mercedes panel spanning the full width. According to Autocar India, there are two separate seats in the rear, meaning the sedan is a four-seater. A separate topic is the artificial sound: in AMGFORCE S+ mode the system imitates the sound of the old four-cylinder M139, gear shifts, and even short “drops” in thrust, while the seats transmit vibration.

The electric “hot” CLA is part of AMG’s broader transition to electrification. Next in line is the C-Class: we already wrote about the prototype electric Mercedes-AMG C-Class, which is set to compete with the BMW M3.

How much it costs and when you can order

Mercedes announced German pricing on 31 August 2026: the sedan starts at €79,039, the Shooting Brake at €80,408 incl. VAT, excluding delivery to the dealer. That is about €2,500 cheaper than the previous petrol CLA 45. Orders are taken by dealers and online. The brand did not name the date of first deliveries or prices for other markets, including Ukraine. CLA models are assembled at the Rastatt plant.

Which accessories fit the new CLA

We do not yet have model-specific accessories for the new CLA body (C174/X174, from 2025) in our catalog. Products for the previous CLA C117 and C118 do not fit the new generation: different bumpers, trunk lid, floor geometry. What you can realistically install already are universal items chosen by size. For the interior, these are universal rubber floor mats — in the four-seat AMG with two separate rear seats, it is important that the rear mats do not extend under the tunnel. For the trunk — a universal polyurethane cargo mat that is trimmed to fit.

Owners of a regular CLA sedan without a factory spoiler can use a universal ABS plastic trunk-lid spoiler — before buying, it is worth measuring the lid width along the edge. The AMG CLA 45 does not need such a spoiler: it already has an active rear wing.

The images in the article are illustrations created based on the official Mercedes-AMG description, not factory photos.

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