Mercedes brought a new electric CLA to Brussels expecting attention.
What it didn’t expect was to walk away with the biggest trophy in the room.
Car of the Year is usually a knife fight between familiar names, familiar strategies, and big promises.
This time, the judges picked something a little different.
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How Mercedes’ new CLA actually won Car of the Year 2026
The European Car of the Year award isn’t a popularity contest, it’s a vote undergone by 60 journalists from 23 countries.
This year, out of 34 new models and six finalists, the new CLA came out on top with 320 points.
And the deciding factor wasn’t brute force or headline stats, it was software.
The CLA is the first Mercedes built fully around MB.OS – the brand’s new in-house operating system, paired with a next-gen MBUX interface that leans heavily on AI.
Mercedes-Benz
It learns habits, simplifies controls, and removes a lot of the friction that still plagues modern EVs.
That ease-of-use kept coming up in jury feedback.
A car that feels intuitive from the first drive and stays that way once the novelty wears off.
In electric form, the CLA delivers up to 792km of WLTP range, which is serious even by 2026 standards.
Its 800V architecture allows fast charging too, adding up to 200 miles in around 10 minutes.
Mercedes has dubbed it the ‘one-liter car for the electric era,’ and the numbers back that up.
It’s also why comparisons to Tesla are rife.
Tesla built its reputation on software-led EVs.
The CLA shows Mercedes has caught up, and maybe even refined the idea.
Why this win matters beyond the trophy
For Mercedes-Benz, the timing is convenient.
The CLA has been on sale in Europe since mid-2025, demand is strong, and order books already stretch well into the second half of 2026.
More importantly, it sets a baseline.
If this is the entry point for Mercedes’ next wave of EVs, then everything that follows will be judged against it.
Mercedes-Benz
Not just on range or charging, but on how smart it feels to live with.
So in the end, Mercedes didn’t win Car of the Year by doing something radical.
It won by making an electric car that doesn’t feel like a work-in-progress.
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