Mercedes Class A Saloon: who wants a Class C?

Mercedes-Benz presents the new Mercedes Class A Saloon, a car that offers entry into the brand’s saloon range, with qualities good enough to consider it an alternative to the Class C itself.

At the end of 2018 the new Mercedes Class A Saloon arrives, which will be presented to the public in October at the Paris Motor Show. It is the version with a three-box body of the Mercedes Class A, a saloon with a very sporty design that does not sacrifice versatility or efficiency.

Design and dimensions of the Class A Saloon

In fact, both its sporty image and its low consumption owe a special debt to its design: as we told you, the Mercedes Class A Saloon boasts being the most aerodynamic car in the world, with a Cd of 0.22.

With the same wheelbase as the 5-door version, 2.73 metres, the length of the Class A Saloon is 4,549 millimetres, making it 13 cm longer than the 5-door, while keeping the width of 1,796 mm and a height of 1,446 mm, just 6 mm more than the two-box version. Let us recall that Mercedes had previously presented a version of this saloon with a stretched wheelbase, for the Chinese market only.

For its exterior size, Mercedes promises very favourable interior dimensions for its new saloon. It cites 944 mm of headroom in the rear seats, and more shoulder room than the average for its category –its most direct rival is the Audi A3 Saloon. Boot capacity reaches 420 litres (compared with 370 litres for the 5-door Class A, or 425 litres for the Audi A3 Saloon), with a loading space that offers 950 mm of width.

Inside, there is nothing new we have not already seen in the Class A and its MBUX multimedia system. You can choose between a driving position with two 7-inch screens, one 7-inch for the instrumentation and another 10.25-inch for the multimedia system, or both at 10.25 inches. And all the connectivity services of the Class A are also available on the Saloon: navigation based on Car-to-X vehicle-to-vehicle communication, voice control with natural language, Mercedes me App applications…

The engines of the Mercedes Class A Saloon

As with the Mercedes Class A 5-door, at launch the Class A Saloon will have two mechanical versions, with the range expanding later. The first to arrive will be the A 200 with the petrol engine producing 163 CV, and the A 180 d, with the 116 CV turbodiesel, both paired with the 7G-DCT dual-clutch automatic gearbox. For the former, an average consumption from 5.2 l/100 km is quoted, with CO2 emissions from 119 g/km. The figures for the turbodiesel Class A Saloon are 4.0 l/100 km and 107 g/km of CO2, respectively. These data are still according to the NEDC cycle.

With the same chassis as the Class A 5-door, the Saloon also uses a McPherson front suspension. The rear axle in the more powerful versions, where the optional adjustable damping is fitted, and in the 4MATIC all-wheel drive versions, is a four-link design forming a deformable parallelogram. The less powerful versions keep the simpler layout of trailing wheels with a torsion beam. The dynamic behaviour, therefore, should not differ much from that of the Class A 5-door we tested at the national presentation.

Equipment: almost like a Class S

Here too the Mercedes Class A Saloon follows the strategy applied to the 5-door, of leaving practically nothing out when it comes to safety systems and driver-assistance features. Some of these were, until very recently, reserved for the Class S.

Thus, the Class A has semi-autonomous driving thanks to the DISTRONIC active distance assist, which helps not only to maintain speed but can even assist with steering during overtaking manoeuvres. Fitted as standard or as an option, this system is joined by active lane change detection, the Pre-Safe Plus anti-collision braking system, or Multibeam LED headlights that adapt to driving conditions.

Mercedes Class A Saloon image gallery