Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class is Small Without Slumming It

2011 Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class front 3/4 view

Ask the vast majority of Americans what kinds of vehicles Mercedes-Benz makes and they’ll answer luxury cars and SUVs. However, in other parts of the world, the world’s oldest car company is involved in many, many more segments, including big rigs, buses, vans (though the Sprinter recently began being sold in this county as a Mercedes-Benz after years of wearing Dodge and Freightliner grilles) and, yes, even front-drive subcompacts. The smallest and cheapest car wearing the Three-Pointed Star is the A-Class.

The new third-generation A-Class scheduled to arrive for the 2012 model year promises to advance the evolution of the Baby Benz even further. It might also take the line to a strange new land, for the concept car previewing the new A will be making one of its debuts (the other being the Shanghai Motor Show) at the New York Auto Show.

2011 Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class rear 3/4 view

But first things first, let’s focus on the car itself. The profile is long and low, a sharp contrast to the rather upright silhouettes of the first two iterations of the A-Class. The flanks have more creases and character lines than a mall-parking lot’s-worth of late model BMWs, while the snout echoes the quite vertical visages of the current R- and CLS-classes. The headlights are LED units, but the daytime running lights (DRLs) utilize fiber optics to let oncoming traffic know you’re coming. The Mercedes-Benz badge appears to be floating in a sea of stars rather than a grille, but they’re really just shiny metal hexagons on black stems.

And while the secret to the grille’s nifty visual effect is a bit of a letdown, the stuff behind the grille isn’t. There you’ll find the newest member of Stuttgart’s BlueEFFICIENCY engine family, a direct-injected turbo four-banger producing 210hp. That power is then sent to the front tires via a new dual-clutch transmission.

2011 Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class interior view

Venturing farther back into the cabin, we find a fighter jet-inspired dash with red lighting and accents. The concept features 2+2 seating with a full-length center console, though the production model (which should be available in both 3- and 5-door form) will likely accommodate five.

But let’s get back to the fact the Concept A-Class is debuting in the Big Apple. As mentioned earlier, Mercedes-Benz has historically preferred to avoid moving too far downmarket in the U.S. for fear of tarnishing its longstanding, carefully-crafted premium image. But with big upticks in Federal fuel economy regulations on the horizon and $4.00/gallon-plus gas here now, Daimler knows it’s got to start thinking small sooner rather than later.

2011 Mercedes-Benz Concept A-Class side view

What about Smart, you ask? Well, in case you haven’t been reading the auto industry tea leaves, the small city cars have fallen on their faces. Whether it’s the lower-than-you’d-expect fuel economy, the higher-than-you’d-expect price or the fact it has Lucifer’s own transmission, the little buggers just haven’t caught on, and you know that if Roger Penske couldn’t unload enough of them, Daimler probably won’t fare much better. Hedging its bets by offering its more conventional compact – and a sharp-looking one at that – on these shores might be the hot ticket.

Source: Mercedes-Benz