C178

The C178 exists because MMA was designed from the outset to carry either kind of drive, and Mercedes chose to make no visual concession to that fact. Only the face gives it away: where the electric CLA wears a sealed panel of star elements, the hybrid needs air, so the grille opens into a dark lattice above much larger lower intakes. Everything behind it is new. The M 252 is a 1.5-liter turbocharged four from the FAME modular engine family, designed by Mercedes-Benz and built in China by Aurobay and Beijing Benz Automotive — the first time a Mercedes assembled in Germany has used a Chinese-built engine. It runs a 12:1 compression ratio, Miller intake timing and lambda-1 across the map for a peak thermal efficiency of 39.4 per cent.

The second novelty is the transmission. Rather than hang a belt-driven starter-generator off the crank, Mercedes put a 22 kW motor and its inverter inside a new eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, the 8F-eDCT, where it drives both clutch lines and allows genuine electric running at town speeds, electric coasting and torque fill under load. A 1.3 kWh lithium-ion battery feeds it. Five designations followed on 4 November 2025 — CLA 180, 200, 200 4MATIC, 220 and 220 4MATIC — from 156 to 211 PS of system output. There is no AMG version: the 45 badge went electric.