New Car Overview of the 2006 Mercedes-Benz CLS Class Mid-Size Luxury Sedan

Description: Mid-Size Luxury Sedan
Base MSRP Range: $64,900 - $86,600
Invoice Price Range: $60,357 - $80,538
Where built: Germany

Two striking new models with sculpted bodies emerge in the 2006 Mercedes line to forge the new CLS Class. Described as a four-door coupe, the sleek and elegant CLS sorts in size between mid-size E Class and full-size S Class sedans. Part of the structure for CLS comes from the E Class but the design draws graceful styling of a sporty coupe with low sweeping roofline.

There are two models in the series with CLS500 and a powerful CLS55 AMG. The former pulls from a Mercedes 5.0-liter V8 tuned to 302 hp, while the latter merits the AMG 5.5-liter supercharged V8 cranked to 469 hp. Both use the Mercedes 7G-tronic seven-speed TouchShift automatic transmission.

Mercedes-Benz with headquarters in Germany makes luxury and performance vehicles that span the scale in size and type with multiple options for power and traction. The vast collection includes souped-up performance variations in many categories built by the Mercedes super-tuner AMG. But there are three new Mercedes classes for 2006 -- the elegant CLS Class of four-door coupes, the large-scale R Class sport tourer wagons and a new generation of designs for American-built M Class of sport-utility vehicles.