Mercedes A-Class The current Mercedes A-Class is set to be discontinued in 2026. Picture: Supplied
Image: Supplied
Rumoured since 2022, a Mercedes executive has now provided official confirmation that the A-Class will not live beyond the current generation.
Mercedes Chief Technology Officer Markus Schafer confirmed this at the presentation of the third-generation CLA sedan recently, Carscoops reported.
He also explained the move, stating that hatchbacks do not have widespread appeal across the world.
“We need models that work all over the world, including China and the USA. I know the hatchback is the favorite bodystyle in Europe, but it was not part of the plans, and we had to make choices - even difficult ones,” Schafer said.
“Reducing complexity is a key task for us. For this reason, bringing the compact family from seven to four models was necessary in this segment.”
The recently-revealed CLA sports sedan ushers in this new generation of compact models, and it is expected to be joined by a shooting brake variant as well as new generations of the GLA and GLB, with the B-Class mini-MPV and A-Class sedan also falling away.
The new compact family will be underpinned by the MMA architecture, which is more electric-vehicle focused but still capable of accommodating internal combustion engines.
It also ushers in new cabin tech, including an MBUX Superscreen that stretches across the cabin and updated Virtual Assistant, featuring an AI avatar that can retain short-term memory and handle complex, multi-turn dialogue.
Mercedes is also working on a ‘baby G-Class’, which will be called the ‘g-Class’ but this will not be underpinned by MMA, Schafer told Quattroruote, as it would not enable the kind of off-roading ability that customers would expect from such a vehicle.
The current-generation Mercedes A-Class is set to live on until 2026, reports indicate. It is currently the least expensive Mercedes in South Africa, although this is a highly relative term, with prices starting at R826,000.
Its demise will push the brand further upmarket, given that it undercuts the CLA sedan and GLA compact SUV by around R100,000.
The first-generation A-Class was launched internationally in 1997 as the first Mercedes passenger car to feature front-wheel drive. It also boasted an innovative ‘sandwich floor’ design that enhanced space efficiency and enabled future electrification possibilities.
While this made the A-Class somewhat ahead of its time, buyers did not warm to its MPV looks and after two generations on this platform, the third-generation model of 2012 took the form of a regular hatchback with styling more akin to the firm’s larger sedan models. It also heralded the potent A45 AMG hot hatch model that became a formidable rival to Volkswagen’s Golf R.
The fourth and final-generation continued this format, while also adding a sedan to the mix.
IOL
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