Review: The Mercedes-Benz CLE is elegant and nimble (but you’d need yoga skills to use the rear seats!)

Uncertainty in the car market continues as Chinese disruptors enter the market at a rapid pace while European carmakers struggle to compete. Earlier this year, the company that created the first car, Mercedes, rolled back on plans to sell only electric vehicles “where market conditions allow” by 2030, instead pledging “to cater to different customer needs, whether it’s an all-electric drivetrain or an electrified combustion engine, until well into the 2030s”. The carmaker now expects EVs to make up just 50pc of total sales by 2030. Meanwhile, electric car sales have slowed in Ireland — in the first three months of 2024, sales fell 14pc compared with the same time last year as the new car market overall rose 8pc.