Mercedes calls on Kate Upton to tease CLA in video
Automakers often tease their Super Bowl ads ahead of the game as a way to squeeze a little more publicity out them. But this year, Mercedes-Benz decided to take the tease to a new level.
The company on Monday released a video showing its new model -- the sleek CLA sedan -- flanked by another model: Kate Upton.
The 90-second, slow-motion ad is perfectly PG, so feel free to watch it at work. It features the 20-year-old Upton in shorts and a tank top supervising a trio of young football players washing a CLA.
Video: Kate Upton and Mercedes tease the new CLA
There are a few closeups of the car’s front end and interior, yet they’re nothing that wasn’t shown when the car was recently revealed at the Detroit Auto Show.
The real focus is clearly Upton, who spends much of the ad involved in gratuitous hair-tousling while flirting with the camera and the young gentlemen distractedly soaping her Benz.
Upton’s appearance foretells of the actual Super Bowl ad, which will feature her and singer Usher when it debuts during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. The goal is to introduce the CLA -- Mercedes’ first front-wheel-drive car for the U.S. market, likely starting around $30,000 -- to a younger audience than is traditionally drawn to the larger C-Class.
The CLA250 will be powered by a 2.0-liter, turbocharged, direct-injected four-cylinder engine making 208 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It will route power to the front wheels via a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission with shift paddles.
The model will go on sale in September 2013. In spring 2014, Mercedes will offer the CLA250 4MATIC, an all-wheel-drive version with the same engine and transmission.
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