With its subtle good looks and virtually faultless performance, this is a Mercedes that’s likely to appeal to younger drivers rather than, perhaps, the traditional Mercedes-Benz stereotype.

It’s a beautiful car – inside and out – so much so, it didn’t seem right to put both my rather grubby child seats in the back (I had to though).

There is a choice of two diesel engines (CLA 200CDi and CLA 220CDi) and two petrol engines (CLA 180 and CLA 250 4MATIC) with two models - Sport and AMG Sport. I drove the Sport, which features 18-inch, five-twin-spoke alloy wheels, a diamond style grille with black pins, rain sensing wipers, Active Park Assist, Audio 20 with Bluetooth interface, cruise control with Speedtronic variable speed limiter and Light and Sight Package.

AMG Sports benefits from 18-inch AMG alloy wheels, a diamond style grille with silver pins, front brake callipers with ‘Mercedes-Benz’ lettering, privacy glass and sports suspension.

Handling is sharp, suspension firm and although it felt a little bumpy at times, it was overall a very enjoyable, rather luxurious drive. As the automatic gears are situated where the indicator normally is, I lost count of the number of times I went to put the windscreen wipers on and put the car in neutral instead – but you get used to this eventually.

Standard safety kit includes nine airbags and Isofix child seat mountings. When the car senses an impact, the active bonnet rises 65mm to protect pedestrians.

The car’s Lane-Tracking Package vibrates the wheel if you stray over white lines without indicating and a blind-spot monitoring system. Unsurprisingly, it has a five-star rating from Euro NCAP.

Inside, the dashboard is the same as the A-Class, so there’s a smart design dominated by the SLS-inspired air vents, a tablet-style screen and a textured leather multifunction steering wheel.

The coupé roofline restricts space in the back for adults, but was fine for my little people. Boot capacity is immense, with 470 litres to fill, and fuel economy was good, achieving more than 50mpg.

Company car tax bills would also be low, with the CLA emitting just under 130g/km of carbon dioxide.

Saying all this, practicality is probably not top of the list of priorities when considering a Mercedes purchase. Styling, looks and performance is though and the CLA 180 Sport ticks all of those important boxes.

Factfile
Car: Mercedes CLA 180 Sport
On the road: £26,225
Top speed: 130mph
0-62mph: 9.2 seconds
Fuel: 51.4mpg (combined)
CO2 emissions: 129g/km