WITH the upcoming arrival of the new Mercedes A-Class in South Africa, the luxury German carmaker has unveiled an eye-catching sedan version destined to arrive here early next year.
The new A-Class sedan is more conventional than the existing CLA, which many people currently regard as the sedan version of the A-Class although Mercedes defines it as a four-door coupé.
The low-slung CLA is to be replaced in the upcoming months with an even sleeker, newer version.
The new A-Class slots in below the C-Class to become Mercedes’ most affordable sedan. It claims to offer class leading headroom as well as “above average” shoulder and elbow space, while boot space is an impressive 420 litres.
What’s more, Mercedes claims that the A-Class four-door is said to boast the lowest aerodynamic drag of all production cars in the world.
The A-Class sedan arrives with a choice of two engines, both fitted with a seven-speed automatic gearbox.
First is the high-tech 1,3-litre turbopetrol for the A200 model. Second is the 1,5-litre turbodiesel in the A 180d.
Other engines will be introduced later on and of course, the racey AMG kit versions should be available before lone too.
Naturally, the interior looks like the hatchback and a standout feature of the A-Class is the spaceship-like “free floating” and fully digital widescreen layout which replaces the traditional instrumentation and infotainment screens.
Just because it is Mercedes’ budget sedan doesn’t mean the newcomer lacks luxury features. There is a wide range of gadgets and posh trim options available.
When it arrives in South Africa, the A-Class sedan will take aim at the Audi A3 sedan, which of course begs the question: what if BMW is also plotting a sedan version of the 1 Series?
