Niall Horan drives Merc CLA

Niall Horan of One Direction, with the Mercedes-Benz CLA he drove while on a recent visit home to Ireland.

A week before the launch of the Mercedes-Benz CLA in Ireland, distributors MDL scored one for the youngsters when they got One Direction's Niall Horan into the car for a short trip home, writes Brian Byrne.

The car was provided through MSL Ballsbridge, one of the distributor's own dealerships, and a tweeted pic on MSL's Twitter account of him in the car was retweeted more than 7,800 times by the singer's fans around the world.

Mercedes-Benz is aiming the CLA, a 4-door coupe based on its new A-Class, at a much younger target buyer than the older profile which the brand has had for some years.

"The common denominator between Niall and the CLA is 'coolness'," says Ciaran Allen of Mercedes-Benz Ireland. "We now have a range of cars that can span the generations." He admitted that the average age of the star's followers puts them many years before they get driving themselves, but says it's worth it getting them aware of Mercedes-Benz as early as possible.

The CLA was officially launched this week, at a starting price of just under €30,000. The official target competitor here is the BMW 3 Series.

Ciaran Allen, Sales Manager Mercedes-Benz Ireland, with Stephen Byrne, MD of Mercedes-Benz Ireland, at the press launch of the CLA.