With its sleek new looks, Mercedes' much-anticipated new coupe emphasises bold style over conformity.

Does the Germans manufacturer’s niche-finding abilities know no bounds? The CLS, launched in 2004 and arguably the first of today’s genre-bending cars, was undoubtedly a hit thanks to its dramatic swoopy styling. Now, Mercedes-Benz seeks to continue that success with a baby brother: the CLA.

Launched to invited guests and the media at an event in Robertson Quay, the CLA200 will be available locally with either the AMG or Urban trim lines, the latter being the one you see in these pictures.

The two are distinguished only visually, with the AMG Line sporting a much more aggressive bodykit, AMG rims, silver-coloured Diamond radiator grille and red interior stitching. They are otherwise mechanically identical, sharing all running gear with the A-class hatch on which it’s based. For the local market, that’ll be the A200’s 156 bhp 1.6-litre turbo, mated to a 7-speed DCT gearbox.

With a 0-100 km/h time of 8.5 seconds and top speed of 230 km/h, the CLA200 has the go to match the show, yet it manages to achieve a fuel consumption figure of just 5.5 l/100km, thanks to its claimed industry-best aerodynamic drag coefficient of 0.23.

The interior is also shared with the A-class, featuring body-hugging sports seats, turbine-inspired aircon vents and a 14.7 cm multifunction display. The CLA scores on safety too, with a plethora of airbags (including side, window and knee airbags) as well as Attention Assist and Collision Prevention Assist, which optimizes brake pressure in an impending collision.

The CLA200 is priced at $179,888, with the AMG Line package an additional $10,000. For those wanting to properly scorch the tarmac, wait for the CLA45 AMG...