Ask the vast majority of Americans what kinds of vehicles
Mercedes-Benz makes and they’ll answer
luxury cars and SUVs. However, in other parts of the world, the world’s oldest car company is involved in many, many more segments, including big rigs, buses, vans (though the
Sprinter recently began being sold in this county as a
Mercedes-Benz after years of wearing
Dodge and
Freightliner grilles) and, yes, even front-drive subcompacts. The smallest and cheapest
car wearing the Three-Pointed Star is the
A-Class.
The new third-generation A-Class scheduled to arrive for the 2012 model year promises to advance the evolution of the Baby Benz even further. It might also take the line to a strange new land, for the concept car previewing the new A will be making one of its debuts (the other being the
Shanghai Motor Show) at the
New York Auto Show.
But first things first, let’s focus on the car itself. The profile is long and low, a sharp contrast to the rather upright silhouettes of the first two iterations of the A-Class. The flanks have more creases and character lines than a mall-parking lot’s-worth of late model
BMWs, while the snout echoes the quite vertical visages of the current
R- and
CLS-classes. The headlights are LED units, but the daytime running lights (DRLs) utilize fiber optics to let oncoming traffic know you’re coming. The Mercedes-Benz badge appears to be floating in a sea of stars rather than a grille, but they’re really just shiny metal hexagons on black stems.
And while the secret to the grille’s nifty visual effect is a bit of a letdown, the stuff behind the grille isn’t. There you’ll find the newest member of Stuttgart’s
BlueEFFICIENCY engine family, a
direct-injected turbo four-banger producing
210hp. That power is then sent to the front tires via a new
dual-clutch transmission.
Venturing farther back into the cabin, we find a fighter jet-inspired dash with red lighting and accents. The concept features 2+2 seating with a full-length center console, though the production model (which should be available in both 3- and 5-door form) will likely accommodate five.
But let’s get back to the fact the Concept A-Class is debuting in the Big Apple. As mentioned earlier, Mercedes-Benz has historically preferred to avoid moving too far downmarket in the U.S. for fear of tarnishing its longstanding, carefully-crafted premium image. But with big upticks in Federal fuel economy regulations on the horizon and $4.00/gallon-plus gas here now,
Daimler knows it’s got to start thinking small sooner rather than later.
What about
Smart, you ask? Well, in case you haven’t been reading the auto industry tea leaves, the small city
cars have fallen on their faces. Whether it’s the lower-than-you’d-expect fuel economy, the higher-than-you’d-expect price or the fact it has Lucifer’s own transmission, the little buggers just haven’t caught on, and you know that if
Roger Penske couldn’t unload enough of them, Daimler probably won’t fare much better. Hedging its bets by offering its more conventional
compact – and a sharp-looking one at that – on these shores might be the hot ticket.
orld premiere at the New York Auto Show
Mercedes Concept A-Class: the beginning of a new compact generationMONTVALE, NJ – The Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class will make its debut at both the 2011 New York and Shanghai Auto Shows later this month. Looking as though it might have come from another planet, the Concept A-Class features an expressive and athletic design. Technical highlights include a new turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine, a dual clutch transmission and a radar-based
collision warning system with adaptive Brake Assist.
The aggressive appearance of the Concept A-Class, with its long hood, low silhouette and slim side windows, is given depth by the interplay between lines and surfaces. Inspiration was drawn from the wind and the waves, as well as aviation engineering.
The Concept A-Class previews a new compact class era at Mercedes-Benz. This front-wheel drive model is powered by a four-cylinder gasoline engine from the new M270 series. It was designed for transverse installation and thanks to direct injection and
turbocharging, offers high performance together with minimal emissions and fuel consumption. The Concept A-Class is equipped with the twoliter variant of the new engine, developing 210 hp. This BlueEFFICIENCY engine is mated to the new Mercedes-Benz dual clutch transmission.
As a world first in the compact class, the concept car features a radar-based
collision warning system with adaptive Brake Assist, which lowers the risk of rearend collisions. This assistance system gives a visual and acoustic warning to an inattentive driver and prepares Brake Assist for a precise braking response. Braking is initiated as soon as the driver forcefully operates the brake pedal.
The exterior design of the Concept A-Class features the combination of defined edges and free interplay with the body surfaces that Mercedes-Benz first showed in the F800 Style. The side view is structured with three prominent lines: the front structural edge above the front fender forms a dropping line, while the prominent shoulder muscle above the rear axle underlines the car's coupe-like character. A further line extends upwards from the rear wheel arch in a sweeping curve.
The front end of the Concept A-Class immediately catches the eye with the Mercedes-Benz star logo surrounded by what looks like a star-filled sky. Where there are usually openings or louvers, the radiator grille consists of numerous metallic silver hexagons on black stems. This theme is reflected in the design of the wheels.
The headlights of the Concept A-Class continue this design element with innovative full-LED high-performance headlamps repeating the starry sky motif with numerous light points. The daytime running lamps consist of 90 optical fibers with aluminum sleeves which are arranged in a wing-shape within the headlamp.
In the interior, the eye is immediately drawn to the dashboard which has the shape of an aircraft wing and a translucent, stretchable fabric lining. This enables the bionic, cellular structure of the dashboard to remain visible.
The shape of the air vents in the dashboard is reminiscent of a jet aircraft. The prominent dials in the instrument cluster are in red, inspired by the afterburner of a jet engine. The center console is designed as a modern flight control panel, with the shift lever designed as a "reverse thrust control".
A smartphone is fully integrated into the Concept A-Class. All functions are shown in the display as applications, and can be operated using the rotary/push control. The visual presentation of the display screen elements is unique, with a deep, three-dimensional appearance created by laser-like magenta-colored lines.
