New car of Mercedes-Benz

When: Late 2013
How Much: TBD
My Guess: As high as $45,000 for the AMG, mid-$30,000 range for later CLAs
 

Mercedes has been toying with bringing Americans a compact Benz since Harry Truman was in the White House. Okay, not quite, but it seems that way. Think of how much money Mercedes hasn't made while BMW brought the 1 Series, and then several hundred thousand Minis, to the U.S.

Now Mercedes is finally pulling the trigger. What the CLA promises, Mercedes says, is something slicker than we've seen on American shores, and the first A-Class to grace the New World will arrive as an AMG with a muscular 300-hp turbocharged four-cylinder fed to all-wheel drive. It's even possible we'll see a double-clutch, seven-speed automatic. Only the sedan version of the smallest Benz will come to America, probably because the hatch versions of the 1 Series and the Audi A3 haven't sold well here. After the CLA AMG debuts, though, we will see more fuel-efficient CLAs with smaller engines, possibly a diesel, and front-wheel drive.

Mercedes-Benz CLA

New Car of Porsche

When: Mid-2013
How Much: Low $40,000s

Porsche loyalists, look away. You might cry foul over this latest VW Group tie-up with Porsche, but Porsche can't hear you over the ka-ching of all those dollars, euros, yen, and yuan. We actually have high hopes for the Audi Q5–based Macan. The reason: The Q5 could be much more capable than it is, but while we don't foresee Audi bringing us an R-edition Q5, we can believe Porsche would go there.
At first, we expect Porsche to go for improved handling, the way it built the Cayenne to be a more capable high-speed machine than the VW Touareg. AWD will be a given, as will two Audi-derived engines, the 237-hp 2.0-liter turbo four and the 288-hp V-6. Rumors suggest that a manual gearbox could be possible, but we're betting on a seven-speed auto, though there's still hope it could come in a dual-clutch arrangement.

Porsche Macan