Mercedes-Benz Said to Have Approved CLC Small Shooting Brake Model

We're still more than a year away from the presentation of Mercedes-Benz's CLC small sports sedan which will likely compete against the future A3 Sedan, yet Daimler’s boss Dieter Zetsche is said to have already given the green light for a shooting brake version.

And if you ‘re wondering what's a shooting brake model, think of it this way: it is to the station wagon what the four-door coupe is to a regular sedan. In other words, a far more stylish but much less practical five-door model with a heavily raked rear hatch.

Being that the Stuttgart company has already officially confirmed a shooting brake derivative of the new CLS, which it previewed in April with the concept you see in these photos and that was displayed at the China Auto Show, Zetsche's decision to build a similar version of its “baby CLS” sounds reasonable.

Its styling will be a fusion of the CLC and the CLS shooting brake, with the emphasis given on the desugn rather than practicality and outright loading capacity.

Like its four-door sibling, it will likely be available with front or all-wheel drive and turbocharged direct injection engines.

The Mercedes-Benz CLC shooting brake is believed to go on sale in the US in 2014, a year after the four-door coupe version arrives in the market.