Compare the2025 Mercedes CLAVS 2024 Volkswagen Arteon

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mercedes CLA have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Volkswagen Arteon doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The CLA’s optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Arteon doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

The CLA’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The Arteon doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The CLA’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Arteon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the CLA and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive, lane departure warning systems and around view monitors.

The CLA’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Mercedes vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 35 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Mercedes higher than Volkswagen.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Mercedes vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen With 49 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Mercedes higher than Volkswagen.

On the EPA test cycle the CLA gets better mileage than the Arteon:

Regenerative brakes improve the CLA’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Arteon doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

An eight-speed automatic (SMG) is standard on the Mercedes CLA, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a seven-speed automatic is available for the Arteon.

The CLA stops shorter than the Arteon:

Changing a flat tire near traffic can be dangerous and inconvenient. The run-flat tires available on the CLA can be driven up to 50 miles without any air pressure, allowing you to drive to a service station for a repair. The Arteon doesn’t offer run-flat tires.

The CLA’s drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Arteon doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The CLA 250 4MATIC handles at .87 G’s, while the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line pulls only .84 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The CLA 250 4MATIC executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line (26.5 seconds @ .65 average G’s vs. 26.9 seconds @ .65 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the CLA’s turning circle is 2.9 feet tighter than the Arteon’s (36.1 feet vs. 39 feet).

The Mercedes CLA may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 300 to 450 pounds less than the Volkswagen Arteon.

The CLA is 6.9 inches shorter than the Arteon, making the CLA easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Mercedes CLA amounts to more than styling. The CLA has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .27 Cd. That is lower than the Arteon (.3) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the CLA get better fuel mileage.

The CLA has .6 inches more front headroom and .6 inches more front legroom than the Arteon.

Unlike the driver-only memory seat and mirrors in the Arteon, the CLA has standard driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The CLA offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Arteon doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

Compared to the Volkswagen Arteon, the Mercedes CLA eliminates the need for separate garage door openers and associated risks of losing, breaking, or having dead batteries with its standard integrated Homelink® universal remote controlled from the rear view mirror.

The CLA’s Active Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Arteon SEL Premium’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

The CLA is available in both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations. The Arteon doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

The CLA will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the CLA will retain 51.4% to 51.79% of its original price after five years, while the Arteon only retains 35.76% to 36.38%.

The Mercedes CLA outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by over four to one during 2023.