2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class revealed

The fourth-gen Mercedes-Benz A-Class debuts with new styling, a revamped interior and a new petrol powertrain.

Say hello to the fourth-gen Mercedes-Benz A-Class that has just gone out in public. As you’d have noticed by now, the main highlight of the new entry-level Merc is its revised styling. But, having said that, a lot has changed elsewhere too as the new A-Class gets a raft of updates inside the cabin and under the bonnet.

The new Mercedes A-Class follows the firm’s latest ‘Sensual Purity’ design philosophy, meaning it’s lost the edginess and aggression of the outgoing car for a more elegant and soothing design. The front-end draws inspiration from the new CLS, featuring arrow-shaped LEDs, a low bonnet and new grille. Around the side, the new model has pronounced wheel-arches that can accommodate 16 –19-inch alloy wheels. The rear section has hints of the old car, albeit the slim LED tail-lamps are all new.

Dimensionally, the new model has grown-up a fair bit – the wheelbase has increased by 30mm to 2,729mm, while the hatchback is now 4,419mm long, 1,796mm wide and 1,440mm tall, an increase of 127mm, 16mm and 7mm, respectively.

Inside the cabin, the new A-Class has a completely new and cutting-edge interior. The dashboard has a wing-shaped main body and the ambient lighting has as many as 64 available colours. The main highlight, however, is the widescreen centre display screen, which is made up of two individual screens. It can be specced in three ways – two 7-inch displays, one 7-inch and one 10.25-inch display or two 10.25-inch displays. The new screens also introduce the firm’s new MBUX multimedia system, which works and learns a user’s preferences through AI or artificial intelligence.

Powertrain options on the new A-Class include a new 1.4-litre and 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. The smaller 1.4-litre petrol will come in the A200 with a rated power output of 160bhp and 250 Nm torque. The bigger petrol unit will be offered with the A250 with 221bhp and 350Nm. The diesel engine develops 114bhp and 260Nm, and it will come badged as A180d. All engines come with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic as standard, but the A200 will also have a six-speed manual on offer. The A250 and A180d are to get a manual transmission later on. Having said that, don’t expect any of the manual transmission versions to come to India.

The 2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class goes on sale in Europe starting next month, so, expect it to arrive at the Indian shores by the end of this year.