If you’re after the ultimate in low Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake running costs, you’ll need to investigate the CLA 200 CDI with its 2.1-litre diesel engine, 64mpg claimed fuel economy and 101g/km CO2 emissions. It’ll also be the company car drivers’ choice, since it won’t cost too much to tax. You may have to plump for a trim with small wheels, though, since as they creep up in size, so do the CO2 emissions.

But these numbers aren’t brilliant once you’ve started looking at rivals’ cars. The Civic Tourer, for example, offers sub-100g/km CO2 emissions and 74.3mpg fuel economy. And that’s before you factor in the Golf Estate BlueMotion coming soon…

Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake emissions aren’t class-leading, and that’s before VW launches its super-efficient new Golf Estate BlueMotion which we’re expecting to boast emissions well under 90g/km. With a lowest CO2 output of 101g/km, the CLA falls short when it comes to being kind the environment.

We wouldn’t worry too much about Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake reliability. There haven’t been any major recalls, only minor bits for small oil leaks and the like.

In the main this is a firm that has built a decent reputation for resilient cars, and since the CLA is based on the A-Class platform – a tried and tested formula – we’re fairly confident you won’t have many problems.

The cabin feels decently screwed together, though we did notice a few rattles at certain speeds from some of the dash fittings. This could have been an isolated incident, though.