THE venue is Milton Keynes - possibly not the most aesthetically pleasing place to take a first peep at one of the most attractive-looking ‘affordable' saloons in the world.

But the Buckinghamshire town with a surfeit of roundabouts and shopping malls is the UK home of Mercedes-Benz.

And at the moment it is was playing host to the sole CLA saloon in Britain.

The matt silver coloured four door which will be priced from around £25,000 had been cleverly ‘smuggled' out of German HQ for a short visit to our shores.

The thinking by Merc marketing people is to bring down the age profile of buyers with an exciting-looking saloon that straddles the division between saloon and coupe.

The CLA, which is based on the recently launched A-Class hatch, is actually slightly longer, wider and noticeably lower than the more upmarket C-Class.

Mind you, the next C-Class, due in 2014, will be upsized to take the CLA into consideration.

It has four doors, a huge boot and enough space for four adults, so it's acceptable for business buyers, and small families as well as empty nesters who fancy something a bit flash.

The only obvious compromise is the scalloped roofline at the rear which means that you need to crouch to enter the rear doors.

Nevertheless a six-footer will have enough headroom - just.

I came across the ‘silver bullet' at the far end of the Mercedes reception area.

Behind a temporary screen, the sleek shape dominated its inauspicious surroundings. Purposeful and unmistakably Merc - albeit on steroids - the CLA possesses as much road presence as many cars costing double.

Deep front spoiler and huge air ducts hint at the possible performance and the oversize black alloys contrast with the glossless silver bodywork.

Yet most of the range is modestly powered and exceptionally frugal. Inside, the Edition One on show has load of quirky bits that won't make their way into production cars.

But the facia is still recognisably A-Class.

The one and only example is a left-hooker and I notice that the automatic gear selector is on the steering column, as it is in the new A-Class- that might not be to everyone's taste in UK.

In the centre of the facia is the sat-nav which looks somewhat like an afterthought.

Although an early example, panel fit and cabin quality was top notch which augers well for full production models.

When the first cars go out in June there will be four versions - CLA180 powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine with 122bhp, CLA250 with a 2.0-litre, 211bhp petrol unit, and there will be two diesels (the 136bhp CLA200 CDI and the 170bhp CLA250 CDI).

All are front drive. Best selling model here is expected to be the 220CDI.

Expect the current range to be followed by a full-house AMG version with near supercar performance and a price tag in the £50,000 region later this year.

There will also be an estate derivative in due course.

Of course, Mercedes paved the way for the concept of ‘coupe-saloons' with the hugely successful CLS, and the CLA can be seen as a miniature version of that with much wider appeal because of its affordability.