Mercedes-Benz design has reached the next level. The wild surface treatment of the current A-class is history, and the next generation will feature smoother lines and a more purist appearance. At a press event in Sindelfingen, Germany, Daimler opened up its design department to show us the company’s design process—and a few ideas for its future direction, which chief designer Gorden Wagener summarizes as “sensual purity.”
The event was crowned by the unveiling of a sculpture that provided a fairly accurate hint at the next generation of the A-class. It’s no mistake that the red metallic sculpture seems to hide a four-door notchback sedan: The company is preparing just such a model, and it is destined for the U.S. market, where sedans sell better than hatchbacks (unless those hatchbacks are called crossovers). The A-class sedan will join several other models built atop the same front-wheel-drive platform, known as MFA2. There will also be an A-class hatchback, a CLA-class, a GLA-class, another B-class, and a rugged-looking crossover SUV that could be called GLB and that will resemble the 2012 Ener-G-Force, downsized to fit the compact platform’s size.
We saw the A-class sedan at a recent safety-related event in Daimler’s new crash center in Sindelfingen. Although it was fully covered to be protected from curious onlookers, the short trunk and the pronounced molded-in rear spoiler were clearly visible. While the A-class sedan’s flanks feature smooth lines, there is a calculated provocation: the Rennsport grille, similar to the one on the AMG GT R, which was itself inspired by the grille of the classic 300SL Panamericana.
We expect to see the A-class sedan on sale in the U.S. in 2018 as a 2019 model. It will be more spacious and practical than the CLA, and it could look rather exciting next to the conservatively styled Volkswagen Jetta and Audi A3. Power will come from turbocharged four-cylinder engines, and it will be priced slightly below the CLA, which starts at $33,325.
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