2012 Mercedes A-Class: Mercedes Concept A-Class revealed

The Mercedes Concept A previews the 2012 A Class

We had a sketch to tease the new Mercedes A-Class last month. But now, with the Shanghai Motor Show almost upon us, the 2012 Mercedes A-Class get revealed. And it’s very convincing.

Although we are likely to see some taming down of the A-Class Concept when the production version arrives – bigger glass area, smaller wheels, more practical interior – the A-Class for 2012 is designed to turn-on a younger audience to Mercedes’ smallest model.

Mercedes want a car to take the fight to the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3 (and if Lexus had a brain and put real engines in the CT 200h we’d probably add that to the list too).

But what they also want to do with the 2012 A-Class is steal buyers from the top of the VW Golf demographic. This concept certainly looks convincing enough to achieve that – and more.

Built on the new MFA platform – no more complicated sandwich floors – the 2012 A-Class gets struts at the front and a multi-link back end. And the same MFA platform will spawn the new B-Class too and a raft of variants including coupe, crossover, shooting brake and convertible.

Those variants become even more promising when you look at the design of the new A-Class, which has managed to scale down the looks of the F800 and translated its jarring lines and wheel at each corner stance very convincingly.

The nose of the A-Class looks very 21st century Mercedes. It’s bold and upright and makes a statement, even if the metallic hexagons radiating out from the three pointed star will be gone for production.

Inside is very concepty, but it seems likely the smart phone integration will see it through to production; it’s an innovation that’s been coming for a while. You can also expect interior quality on a par with the latest C-Class – which is very good indeed.

Under the bonnet of the Concept A-Class is a 207bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot  BlueEFFICIENCY lump – a hot-hatch, really – but the production A-Class will get everything from small diesels to a barking 300bhp+ A-Class AMG – think C-Class engines all round.

Oh, and the woeful CVT boxes in the current A-Class will give way to modern dual-clutch ‘boxes. Thankfully.

The Mercedes A-Class Concept is both impressive and convincing. Let’s just hope the very appealing concept doesn’t raise expectations the production model can’t deliver.

(10 photos – click any thumbnail for full gallery)

By Cars UK