A-Class in largely unadorned form. The dramatic styling has seen sales
soar all over the world. At the rear revised LED tail lights denote the
model upgrade
The
latest
Mercedes-Benz
A-Class series, re-invented completely in late 2012 to morph from
a tentative people-mover into a
high-style sporting hatchback,
is probably the most risky mainstream model the company has
ever produced.
The first and second-generation
A-Class cars were created in the
mini-MPV mould, with tall, narrow bodies, a premium on interior
space, and handling that needed serious revisions to make them
acceptable. The car, launched
initially in 1997, appealed to the
conservative heritage of this great
motor manufacture that has always been noted for excellence
rather than flashy pyrotechnics.
The third-gen and current W176
Series A-Class is now very much
a modern hatchback, targeted
at a much more modern audience. Think Hugo Boss, rather
than Stuttafords, and you’ll get
an idea of the type of buyers
Mercedes is now wooing.
All well and good, as the styling
is quite sensational and sales of
the car have soared, rising in Britain, for instance by 46 per cent
in 2014, while in the all-important
Chinese market, sales rose by
more than 40 per cent last year.
The car has achieved exactly
what Mercedes set out to do, as
the average age of the A-Class
owner is now 13 years less than
it was for the preceding model.
And yet…..
Serious journalists around the
world praised the car fo ȁ