Slick new model: Mercedes hope that an improved version of the CLS coupé will prove just as popular as the original

It was 125 years ago that Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler were busy inventing the world's first motor cars.

The pair built the first petrol powered car, a three-wheeler with tubular steel frame in 1885 and patented it the following year under the title of the "Benz Patent Motorwagen". Later models became known as Mercedes Benz. The story behind the name change lies in the fact that an Austrian called Emil Jellinek who designed the specifications that turned the three-wheeler into a car had a daughter called Mercedes. Benz liked the name and decided it suited his models. Interestingly the 10-year-old child's name was in fact Adrienne, but as a term of endearment she was given the pet name 'Mercedes' by her family. It was a close call that we are not admiring 'Adrienne' Benz models a century and a quarter later.

To mark the big event in Mercedes Benz history the company has released details of their new CLS coupé ahead of its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show next month. This is the most stylish saloon to come from the MB drawing boards and is the first in a series of new model introductions planned by the Stuttgart manufacturer over the next 18 months. The new four-door CLS arrives in Ireland early next year and MDL, the Irish importers, point out that it will be here well in time for 2011 registrations.

The CLS line of cars was first introduced in 2003 as a stand-alone model within the Mercedes-Benz range and since then around 170,000 units have been sold worldwide. The new edition builds on the sleek design of its predecessor. The aim has been to put a refined sense of sportiness into a big saloon model and this is reflected in its elongated bonnet, frameless low-slung narrow windows, muscular body shape and a roofline that sweeps towards the rear.

There is a new low wide grille set forward from the headlights in which the dominant element is the large three-pointed star that underlines its family link to other Mercedes-Benz coupés. Another innovation is its LED headlamp design – a world first in applying this technology to all light functions.

Sharing the limelight with the new CLS stand at the Paris show will be a display marking the 125 years of the motorcar.