MoneywebDRIVE Issue 6 | Page 7

 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