The Shanghai Motor Show has opened its doors, and Mercedes presented a concept car that unveils valuable information about the replacement for the A-Class family, and the CLA. A haste to which Mercedes has not accustomed us, since the CLA was presented in 2013.
An early renewal
The A-Class (5-door) was introduced in March 2012 and finally gave Mercedes a worthy presence in the compact category, the best-selling in Europe. The CLA was proposed in early 2013, followed a few months later by the GLA crossover, and finally the CLA Shooting Brake at the end of 2014. A very recent range, which has generated (by adding the figures for the B-Class) 2 million vehicles sold since 2012. It is therefore a great commercial success, which has greatly helped Mercedes to increase its registrations and reduce the average age of its customers by 10 years.
The presentation of the A Sedan Concept is therefore a surprise, since it prefigures the replacement of the A family from 2018. A rapid renewal of which Mercedes is not very familiar. But an understandable renewal since, in the C segment, today’s new proposals very quickly outdated yesterday’s stars. The German company therefore does not want to see the soufflé fall back and intends to engage as soon as possible with a new A family that will be able to continue to fight fiercely in its category.
The A Sedan Concept therefore shows us nothing more or less than the CLA’s replacement, the 4-door coupe version. So of course, the standard version will certainly not use UV technology front lights. And the large 20-inch wheels will probably only be found on the AMG versions. But the main thing is there.
Of note is the curved vertical bar grille “Panamericana”, a symbol of the AMG GT coupé and roadster and the AMG GT GT Concept fastback concept car unveiled last month in Geneva. For the rest, the transition between the current CLA and this Sedan A Concept is smooth and logical, with almost identical dimensions (length 4.57m, width 1.87m, height 1.46m). No technical data were provided.