The Mercedes-Benz CLS is a car with an identity crisis. Mercedes-Benz likes to call its lithe machine a 'four-door coupé'. That actually makes no sense at all. Put simply it's a saloon; a rakish, beautifully proportioned one admittedly, but definitely a saloon. Confusing things even further is this, the CLS Shooting Brake. The what? Let's cut to the chase here: it's an estate.
Mix in some AMG magic (there are other CLS Shooting Brake models around but who's not going to want 557hp?) and you've perhaps the most confused concept of a car available. It is niche filling gone mad, coming from the company that takes a huge amount of pride from creating niches in the first place.
The thing is, the CLS has been a successful machine. It's clever too, borrowing much from its E-Class relation, yet thanks to those superstar looks can command a larger premium. Unsurprisingly then it has spawned a whole host of imitators. Volkswagen's CC and the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé fit the genre, with more certain to be on the product planners' spreadsheets from other brands. From all you'll find that 'four-door coupé' description, even if it's technically inaccurate.
Underlining that it owns the niche market Mercedes-Benz has given us the CLS Shooting Brake. And it's a quite wonderful thing. Adding practicality back into a package that removes it, the Shooting Brake grafts a sleek estate rear above the CLS's sculpted rear wings. Beautiful? Yes, though it's possible to see how some might find it challenging - not least in concept.
More than many pseudo estate cars - so often banded under the banner lifestyle estate - the Shooting Brake actually adds decent practicality. The boot is sizeable and well-shaped. Seats up, it'll carry 590 litres of luggage, though drop them (simply via the standard Easy-Pack Quickfold rear seat adjustment) and that grows to 1,550 litres. Not quite E-Class Estate capacity, but more than the C-Class.
Forget putting anything in the back if you choose the designo American Cherry Wood load compartment. A wooden floor, reminiscent of the deck of a yacht, it's a glorious nod to the original concept model shown in Beijing in 2010. There are protection strips of rubber housed within aluminum, but you'll keep the French polisher busy if you put anything but the softest bags in there.
Unlike that 2010 concept the Shooting Brake is a five-seater, the individual rear seats being replaced by a more conventional bench. If anything, the rest of the interior is a slight let down - as it is in the standard CLS - the obviously design driven exterior not echoed inside. It's too generic Benz, the switchgear all working with the sort of nicely damped, sensibly positioned precision you'd expect from a Mercedes-Benz, but lacking any real flair.
You do sit lower, in what is clearly a more driver-focused machine, and firing the 5.5-litre biturbo AMG V8 engine up only cements that. It's badged '63' in a nod both to AMG's recent naturally aspirated V8 and an old racer, but even this car is not able to escape the trend for downsizing. Economy's gain isn't your loss though, as 557hp isn't what you'd call lacking, that peak power produced at a far lower level than with a naturally aspirated V8. The twisting force it brings is monumental too, with 800Nm of torque available from 2,000-4,500rpm. That's enough to test the traction of the rear tyres whenever you want. Yet for all its promise of insane performance, 0-100km/h happening in just 4.3 seconds, the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake is a demonstration of civility at low speed.
That's not to say it's anything but unhinged when unleashed. Any vehicle with the output this car has is going to have the potential for silliness, and the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake is no exception. Push the accelerator hard and the effect is always slightly shocking. You'll involuntarily giggle as the car hurls forward with unerring ferocity the rear squirming slightly as 557hp and 800Nm fight their way through to relatively small strips of rubber onto the road. Throw in the gloriously naughty sound emanating from under the bonnet and via its four tailpipes and it's difficult to resist the temptation to give your leg a repetitive strain injury pushing it to the floor.
There's agility too that belies the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake's size. There is not much in the way of actual feel at the steering wheel's rim, but it's decently weighted and accurate, the CLS more than simply a practical, good-looking dragster. The AMG Ride Control sports suspension is understandably taut, at the expense sometimes of low-speed ride, but it's a tradeoff worth making for the control it gives at speed. If there's a weak link in the driving experience it's the AMG Speedshift MCT seven-speed transmission. Fine when left alone in fully automatic mode, if you want to drive it - via the wheel mounted paddle shifters - it's reluctant to relinquish complete control, second-guessing and often just ignoring your inputs. A small frustration in what otherwise proves to be a beguiling package, the CLS Shooting Brake might be a niche product within a niche, but it's impossible not to be seduced by this unique fusion of super, saloon and estate car.
The bio:
Favourite holiday destination: I really enjoyed Sri Lanka and Vietnam but my dream destination is the Maldives.
Favourite food: My mum’s Chinese cooking.
Favourite film: Robocop, followed by The Terminator.
Hobbies: Off-roading, scuba diving, playing squash and going to the gym.
The biog
Name: Gul Raziq
From: Charsadda, Pakistan
Family: Wife and six children
Favourite holes at Al Ghazal: 15 and 8
Golf Handicap: 6
Childhood sport: cricket
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
