THE low-slung Mercedes coupe that thinks it's an estate car will cost from £49,360 when it hits the streets in November.

And the boys at Benz are predicting great things for its highly-equipped and leather-clad new CLS Shooting Brake.

The entry level model is the CLS 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY diesel producing 204bhp, and there's also the more powerful six-cylinder CLS 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY with 265bhp at £53,000

Splash out an extra £2,995 and there's an AMG Sport version available with either engine and offering LED headlights with intelligent light system and adaptive highbeam assist, AMG body styling, sports suspension and brakes, sports steering wheel and pedals plus 19-inch alloy wheels.

Topping the range is the fiery AMG 63 version with 5.5-litre V8 bi-turbo engine, 0-62mph acceleration time of 4.4 seconds, top speed limited to 155mph and an average 27.9mpg. It costs £83,030.

With a load volume of between 590 and 1550 litres, the Shooting Brake's luggage compartment offers plenty of room despite the flat, sporty lines of the roof, and should be easy to access thanks to the automatically opening tailgate fitted as standard.

In standard spec, the luggage area floor is carpeted, but the Shooting Brake offers a unique £4,030 feature in the form of an optional wooden luggage compartment floor made from American cherry tree wood and inlaid with smoked oak and aluminium rails.

There's standard air suspension at the rear and transmission is via Mercedes' 7G-TRONIC PLUS automatic transmission. ECO start/stop is also standard.

Additional kit over the CLS Coupe includes the Easy-Pack Quickfold rear seat adjustment and Easy-Pack load compartment cover while optional equipment exclusively for the Shooting Brake includes privacy glass at £365, aluminium rails (£870); manually folding tow bar (£880) and AirMATIC semi-active air suspension at £1,150.