We first saw the dramatic liquid-silver Mercedes-Benz A-Class three-door hatch concept in person at this year’s New York Auto Show and now it appears that Carscoop has obtained official production sketches of the 5-door version.
As expected with most production versions of a new vehicle, the exterior sketches, obtained from the European patent office, reveal a more tamed version of the sheet metal, body surfacing, and wheels. And the refrigerator white paint doesn’t help matters either. The back side seems to veer furthest from the concept, where dual exhaust tips have been replaced with a single pipe on the left side. The sleek, angular and smoked-out taillights on the concept give way to a safe, square-ish design in the production version. No sketches of the interior were obtained, but again, expect a much tamer version of the show-stopping interior shown in the concept.
The A-class is scheduled to launch in Europe this fall and should arrive on our shores sometime next year. Other details are slim thus far, but we predict Mercedes will stuff a turbocharged four-cylinder engine under the hood, similar to the one going in the upcoming C250. With consumers on edge due to the perpetual volatility of fuel prices, Mercedes believes the time has come for Americans to embrace a premium, fuel-sipping front-wheel drive small car.
The automaker will likely face tough competition from the newly released Lexus CT200h hybrid and the BMW 1-series. The A-Class will probably go toe-to-toe with the Audi A3 as well as the even smaller A1. Audi still has no plans to bring its A1 to our shores citing poor sales in other markets, though many analysts believe the automaker has priced it too high. While Mercedes hasn’t released pricing info, they would be wise to consider Audi’s predicament with the A1.
Source: Carscoop
