Mercedes-Benz CLA250 vs Skoda Octavia

What's the difference?

If you're after a hot hatch with a boot, you can't have one because it wouldn't be a hatch anymore.

What you can have is this little beast - the new, second-generation Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S, a small coupe-style sedan sharing its high-performance DNA with the hot as bubbling lava A 45 S hatch.

Packing 300kW – that's just over 420hp – and 500Nm its 2.0-litre engine is claimed to be the most powerful series production turbo four ever made.

And Australian deliveries are scheduled for early 2020, with a likely price tag in the mid-$90k bracket.

Mercedes-AMG invited us to the car's global launch in Madrid, Spain, where we got behind the wheel on road and track.

Once a solid mainstay on our roads, wagons have fallen out of favour somewhat as a result of the ever-growing popularity of SUVs and utes.

But is a wagon actually a better and more family-friendly daily driver than a bigger, taller SUV or ute? Perhaps.

And throw a mild-hybrid system into the mix and it could be an even more appealing purchase.

Skoda’s Octavia has built a strong following in Australia and now comes its new mild hybrid grade, available as a wagon or liftback.

So, what’s the Skoda Octavia Select mHEV wagon like as a daily driver for families?

Read on.