Kia Tasman vs Mercedes-Benz CLA

What's the difference?

Kia expects its all-new Tasman to be a key player in Australia’s highly competitive ute segment. And to its credit, the Korean manufacturer has created its contender from scratch, rather than taking the easier platform-sharing route favoured by some rivals.

However, judging by feedback from numerous locals during our test, the jury is out on whether Aussies will warm 'en masse' to its bold styling and confronting appearance, which tends to distract from the capable vehicle beneath.

So, given our tradie focus, we recently spent a week in the lowest-priced entry point for Tasman dual-cab ute ownership, to see how it measures up as a tool-of-trade for tradies, farmers or fleets wanting a back-to-basics workhorse.

Mercedes has long been the leader in niche filling, and we’d argue that no other model encapsulates that more than the CLA four-door coupe.

Now in its second-generation form, the CLA is based on Mercedes’ MFA2 small car platform that also underpins the A-Class small car range, B-Class tallboy hatchback and GLA crossover, but is actually dimensionally longer than the one-size up C-Class.

However, while the C-Class might offer more conventional styling, Mercedes says the CLA is targeted towards a younger demographic that puts more weight on design and aesthetics.

The previous generation CLA was topped by a hardcore 45 version, which makes a return here, but new this time around is the less-potent, but still AMG-badged, 35 variant to plug the gap between mainstream grades and the range-topper.

After living with the car for a week, here are our thoughts on the new baby AMG CLA.