(50s music) The doo wop sound of the 40s and 50s was honed
by American teenagers on street corners, trying to one-up each other to become the greatest
group in town. This friendly rivalry, also seen in Chinese cafés as electronics engineers
try to produce increasingly optimised circuits, is also seen in the German car industry. If
Audi’s navigation system uses real-time traffic information, BMW’s system has to
have it, yesterday! It was in this highly competitive environment
that Mercedes tried to one-up its German rivals with the revolutionary Mercedes A-class. A
false floor raised the seating height, producing the interior space of a Mercedes C-Class in
something shorter than a Ford Ka. No one had done anything like this before, and the A-Class
was in a class of its own. So why did Mercedes abandon this revolutionary design, going back
to the same tried-and-tested shape? This is the Mercedes A-Class story. (music) Mercedes-Benz, one of the oldest car companies, was known around the world as a purveyor of large, luxury cars. Their van and truck business was almost as old,
but Mercedes had largely ignored the mass car market with its tight profit margins, leaving that to
others to fight it out. A year before the 190 E was launched though in 1980, Mercedes showed off
their vision of what a Mercedes compact car might look like with the 190 E Compact. With
the size of Mercedes engines, most of the car was reserved for the engine bay, leaving
precious little space for the occupants! If I was going to grade it, I’d give it a “C”
for effort! With public interest for small city cars though,
the following year Mercedes designers showed off the NAFA or “Nahverkehrsfahrzeug”,
which roughly translates to short-distance vehicle”, and not, as you might imagine,
“Noddy’s Mercedes”. The car used a tiny 3-cylinder 1.0L engine with an automatic gearbox.
The turning circle was just 5.7m (18‘ 8”) thanks to four-wheel steering. The car fell
woefully short of Mercedes crash ratings though, and this design remained a pipe dream. Mercedes
went back to what it did best – large luxury cars. But there was pressure from management to expand their market. Rival Volkswagen was
already cleaning up in the mass market, and they could reduce costs by sharing chassis
and engines between their mainstream and premium cars. BMW’s abortive attempt at the mass
market by purchasing Rover would lead to the MINI, and a renewed effort to push their 3-series
into the mass market, followed by the 1-series in 2004. Over time Mercedes felt they could
suffer the same fate as Rolls-Royce, a niche luxury car maker with an ever-decreasing market.
Rising European traffic density was forcing drivers into smaller and smaller cars. California
was passing clean air legislation that would make it harder to sell big luxury cars with
large engines. And Mercedes’ customers were older people. A smaller, mass market car would
open up a whole new younger customer segment. It could be a second car, or maybe a car for
the kids. Maybe younger customers would buy this car, then trade up to a larger Mercedes
when they had a bit more money. The 190 E Compact was clearly not the right
way to go, and Mercedes wanted a compact car that was a step change – something to leapfrog
the competition. This was a time many car companies were creating MPVs or Multi-Purpose
Vehicles designed to made small cars more practical. Mercedes’ engineers designed a new form
of chassis with a raised floor that gave excellent interior space in a compact package. In concert
with this they created a custom-shaped engine that would fit low down at the front, using
the space under that raised floor. This allowed the engine to slide below the safety cell
in the event of a frontal collision, giving the tiny car excellent safety. With the California
clean air legislation requiring car makers to sell a certain percentage of zero emission
vehicles, Mercedes developed an electric version, with the batteries neatly stored in the space
underneath the car, giving it excellent weight distribution.
This really was a revolution in packaging. The first inkling the world got of this new
vehicle was late in 1993 when Mercedes showed the “Vision A93” concept at the International
Motor Show in Frankfurt. Three different powerplants were shown – 1.2L 3-cylinder petrol and
diesel engines allied to a CVT transmission, plus a 40kW electric motor and batteries that
would give a 90 mile (150km) range, with a favourable wind. The rear seats and passenger
seat could be removed, turning this compact car into a vast cargo-carrier.
Although it was pitched as a concept, work had started a year earlier on turning this
design into a production vehicle. This shows the confidence Mercedes had in it, and how
quickly they wanted to expand their line-up. Their confidence was backed up by a positive
reaction from the public and press to the Vision A93 prototype, and the new car was
fast tracked for production. The progress could be seen a year later when
Mercedes showed off the FCC or Family Car China concept in Beijing. China was opening
up to western investment and was expected to be a rapidly growing economy. Mercedes
presented their vision of a motorised future to the Chinese Government, and the FCC was
a big part of it. The prototype could also be offered as a pickup or a panel van to satisfy
all sectors of the Chinese economy. The car had clearly been developed since the Vision
A93 and was closer to what the final production car might look like.
Smart had been working since the early 1980s on their own small car. They’d realised
they needed an existing car manufacturer to help develop it, and so partnered with Volkswagen.
But a change in management at Volkswagen in 1993 left Smart scrambling for a new partner
that they found in Mercedes. Although the general direction of both projects was pretty
set at this point, both companies would work together on the finer points to ensure both
cars were a success. As Mercedes continued to develop the car,
it became clear the 3-cylinder engine, while thrifty, wasn’t powerful enough, so it was
expanded to a 4-cylinder, and it would be available as both a 1.4 and 1.6L petrol engine.
The engine itself would be mounted at a 59° angle, sandwiched between the driver’s feet
and the floor. Being so low had the side effect of better weight distribution. With the engine
being such a unique shape, the new engine was tailor-made to fit and couldn’t be used
on any other car. While it might seem difficult to service, it could still be easily accessed
from above, or from underneath when on a ramp. Work also continued on the electric version,
expected to be launched around the same time. The CVT gearbox from the Vision A93 prototype
was dropped, in favour of a standard automatic, along with a 5-speed manual. Mercedes also
perfected an automated manual gearbox which did away with the clutch pedal. To change
gears the driver would take their foot off the accelerator, and the car would engage
the clutch when the driver changed gear. Weight was something Mercedes paid particular
attention to. Where the original concept’s body was made of aluminium, the new chassis
and body would be made from aluminium, steel, magnesium and plastic. The attention to weight
meant the new car, now called the Mercedes A-Class, would be a full 80kg (176lb) lighter
than the Audi A3 that would launch in 1996, that’s the weight of a fully grown adult.
But this weight saving didn’t come at the expense of safety. Mercedes-Benz knew their
reputation was on the line, and their new car needed to be as safe as possible. Heaven
forbid they would launch it, and a motoring journalist would find the car was unsafe,
possibly even just days after their glitzy launch! Front and side airbags came as standard,
along with seat belt tensioners, and side protection was beefed up with specific chassis
elements. Body parts were designed to be easily replaceable
in an accident, and the front bumpers were made from plastic that was designed to return
to their original shape after a low-speed impact. This not only lowered repair costs
for the owner, but insurance rates as well. In the new environmental era, Mercedes was
keen to point out many of the body parts were easy to recycle.
They also took a fresh and novel approach to the interior. With the A-Class expected
to appeal to a younger audience, the dashboard came in a variety of colours and styles, a
departure from the increasingly dour black that was becoming the norm. The removable
seats that were such a feature of the concept car were carried through, giving this little
car amazing cargo space. Even the sunroof was innovative, giving 2/3 more opening than
standard designs. (music) The Mercedes A-Class was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1997, with Mercedes themselves
claiming it to be “the most astonishing car since the Mini”. They also claimed their
diminutive car had essentially the same interior space as a C-Class, despite being almost a
metre (35“) shorter! The public was impressed when the car launched
on October 18th. Mercedes were evolving from their stuffy luxury car past. They’d released
the Vito minivan and svelte SLK just a year earlier, and the M-Class SUV. The A-Class
was a radical new design that seemed to be just what customers wanted. Mercedes had one-upped
rivals Audi with a car that seemed to offer more in a more compact package than the new
A3. Mercedes were also innovating with alternate
fuels. The EV version had turned into the ZEBRA or Zero Emission Battery Research Activities
prototype with a 125 mile (200 km) range. This would prove to be a dead end, but they
would persist with fuel cell technology. NECAR, which stood for “New Electric Car”, or
“No Emission Car”, or maybe it alluded to the Neckar river near Mercedes headquarters,
who knows, would first appear as a truck demonstrator in 1994. By 1997 it had been shrunk down to
fit into the A-Class, and Mercedes would continue to refine the technology, with the NECAR 4
in 1999, the NECAR 5 in 2000, culminating in the F-Cell in 2002, but with a range of
just 93 miles (150 km) Mercedes were never able to productise it.
MPVs were becoming the latest automotive craze, led by the Renault Mégane Scénic. The A-Class,
with its foldable, removable seats, seemed to provide the same MPV flexibility in a more
compact package – it was over half a metre (22”) shorter than the Renault! And that
high driving position gave confidence in a car that could feel light and flimsy compared
to larger vehicles. But although the interior was practical, the
quality didn’t feel good. The plastics were just a bit too “plasticky”, especially
for a car wearing a Mercedes badge on the front. But just a few days after the car launched, the news wasn’t talking about the interior
being too “plasticky”, they were talking about a test a Swedish automobile publication
had done on the new car. In Sweden it’s common to do an accident avoidance manoeuvre
called the “elk test”, so called because it simulates having to avoid an elk that’s
standing in the middle of a fast country road. The car swerves to avoid it, then swerves
again to return to the correct side of the road. The only trouble was the A-Class, that
Mercedes had worked so hard to make as safe as possible, failed the test in a big way.
With publicity lined up to sell Mercedes new high-volume car, this was the worst possible
news to hear, especially as a few days earlier Mercedes had been touting their car as “the
safest in its class”! But to Mercedes credit they were fast to react. Production stopped
completely for over three months while Mercedes replicated the problem and came up with a
solution. In the process they spent a reputed £123M ($175M USD, €143M, $226M AUD), and
that doesn’t include the loss in revenue for the new car, or the damage to Mercedes
credibility. The track on the wheels was widened, the suspension was stiffened, and all cars
came with Electronic Stability Program or ESP as standard. Although ESP was designed
to help prevent skidding in the rain, it also helped with drifting, which made this very
rare accident-avoidance manoeuvre safe. Production began again, and Mercedes continued
its launch advertising, along with lots of information on why their new car was really,
absolutely, truly, definitely safe this time! Taking this issue seriously and working hard
to fix it worked. In the first real year the A-Class was available it beat the Audi A3
in sales, at least according to German figures, and would for the next 8 years. It became
the fastest selling Mercedes in history. Mercedes continued to expand the range in
1999, with a 1.7L turbo diesel, and a 1.9L petrol engine. Production expanded to Thailand
to supply Asia, and Brazil where the A-Class was sold throughout Latin America. They’d
experiment with a hybrid prototype, dubbed the “HyPer”. A more memorable experiment
was the A38 AMG. Mercedes tame performance tuners were let off their leash to make just
4 wild cars, 2 of which were presented to Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard for
their dominating performance in the 1998 Formula 1 World Championship. The 1.9L engine up front
was augmented with another at the back. This made the car all-wheel drive, and slightly
insane with 60 appearing in 5.7 seconds. The 5-speed gearbox synchronised both engines
together, presumably with the power of magic! Audi would launch the upright A2 that was
both longer than the A-Class, and had less interior space. But despite this, contemporary
car reviews, while praising the A-Class, would compare it, not with premium cars like Audi,
but with its cheaper sibling, the Volkswagen Golf – which used the same platform as the
A3. Not bad competition to be compared to, but it didn’t help Mercedes desire to move
the car upmarket into a new luxury category all of its own. And despite Mercedes aiming
at a younger market, the A-Class was popular with seniors who loved the high seating position
and good all-round visibility. The A-Class got its first update in 2001.
There were minor modifications made to the outside, but more updates inside where the
cheap interior was made a little more “premium”. The bigger change was the addition of a long
wheelbase version. The extra 17cm (7“) was given over entirely to rear passenger legroom,
and special longer rear doors helped them get in and out. The interior length of just
over 2m (79”) was the same as the top-of-the-range Mercedes S-Class!
The A-Class got another mad AMG version in 2001 as the A32K, somehow managing to fit
a 3.2L V6 engine into the A-Class’ tiny engine bay. They’d initially tried for a
500hp V8 but surprisingly it wouldn’t fit! But the V6 370hp (276 kW) engine gave it more
than enough power with a 0-60 time of only 5 seconds.
In 2002 a 2.1L engine appeared on regular non-fire breathing cars(!), and Mercedes released
a new variant, the Vaneo 7-seat MPV. Surprisingly for Mercedes, quality issues haunted the car,
and it ended production after only 3 years. By the time the second-generation A-Class
appeared in 2004, Mercedes had sold an impressive 1M cars. The new car didn’t change much
outside, the lights were revised, as well as the wraparound glass at the back, but there
was a brand new 3-door version. Safety was further improved, with active head restraints
and optional rear side airbags. The new car’s biggest fan was Christina
Aguilera, who liked it so much she released a single specially to promote it. I’m sure
her enthusiasm was genuine, although the wads of cash to promote it might have helped!
The A-Class had always maximised space for the occupants, to the detriment of boot space,
which lagged the competition. The new version addressed this by adding 23cm (9”) to the
car’s length, giving 15% more boot capacity. The engine was improved, with the 1.4 becoming
a 1.5, the 1.6 a 1.7, the 1.9 now a 2 litre and the diesel 1.7 also becoming a 2.0 litre.
The old 2.1L engine became a 2.0L turbo. These engine changes meant more power, lower emissions,
as well as better fuel economy, aided by a new 6-speed manual gearbox. A CVT automatic
replaced the standard automatic gearbox, something first proposed on the Vision A93 prototype
over a decade earlier. The interior got a smart dashboard update
with optional sat nav, but the various colour options gave way to the same black design
seen in other cars. Of more importance, at least to Mercedes, was the introduction of
the larger, more traditionally shaped B-Class the following year. It used a variation of
the A-Class chassis, and it would reuse those specially designed engines.
Apart from a couple of A-Class special editions, sales ticked along nicely until 2008 when
the mid-cycle refresh appeared, with minor additions like the option of active start/stop
technology and Active Park Assist. But although Christina Aguilera might have
been excited about the car, the public’s interest was waning. Sales were OK – 1M
second generation cars were sold by 2012, but the new shape hadn’t been the runaway
hit Mercedes were hoping for. And most shameful of all, at least to Mercedes, it was being
outsold in its home market not only by the Audi A3, but by BMW’s new 1-series.
The mk3 A-Class in 2012 would abandon the raised floor design entirely, going back to
the tried and tested shape that the public seemed to prefer. The car grew again to retain
interior space – it was now 69cm (25”) longer than the original car. While many car
makers were moving away from regular passenger cars to higher crossovers, Mercedes seemed
to be going the opposite direction! But it was all to do with economics. The Audi
A3 and BMW 1-Series were outselling the A-Class, so clearly this was the shape customers craved.
Renault were willing to jointly fund chassis and engine development for something that
could take on both of these cars. The result was already being used on the revised B-Class,
Renault would produce the Infiniti Q30 and QX30, and Mercedes would use it for the larger
CLA, and crossover GLA, and of course the new A-Class.
The upright shape from the previous generation car had been bought by older customers, and
it wasn’t a hit with Mercedes target demographic, 20 to 30 year olds. The new style, while giving
less space and practicality, was something young people preferred, and to a for-profit
company, that’s all that mattered! 1.6 and 2.0L turbo petrol engines were available,
along with three different diesels, that were becoming increasingly popular. The default
manual gearbox was now a 6-speed, and the CVT automatic was swapped out for a dual-clutch
automatic, giving manual fanboys an almost immediate gearchange at a click of a paddle,
while allowing them to rest their aching clutch foot in stop-go traffic. Coupled with a slippery
shape, the new car got excellent fuel economy. Inside, the car got many of the new technology
features that trickled down from Mercedes more expensive cars. Trim levels continued
upmarket, making the original A-Class look decidedly cheap in comparison. No one was
comparing it any longer to the Volkswagen Golf! The AMG all-wheel drive model developed 355hp (280 kW), making it a potent hot hatch with
a 0-60 time of just 4.3 seconds. This gave the A-Class some much-needed street cred,
while frugal versions could get nearly 80mpg (65mpg US, 27.8 km/l). The chassis might have
been a backwards step, but the new car was beautifully executed.
It would be manufactured in Germany and Hungary, but sales were so good that production started
up in Finland a year later. The A-Class was being exported and sold to more countries
around the world. A small facelift followed in 2015, with small
refinements such as LED lights instead of halogen, and the option of adaptive adjustable
damping. But a larger change came in 2018 with the fourth-generation model. Although
Christina Aguilera probably loved this car more than the last one, she wasn’t called
on to help promote it because the new biggest fan of the A-Class was Nicki Minaj! It’s
clear to see why, as the new pocket rocket was now available as a saloon as well as a
hatchback, and this helped Mercedes expand sales to more parts of the world.
Diesels were now out of favour, but were still available, along with 1.3L and 2.0L petrol
engines. All came with a turbo to extract extra power from the engine, and the tiny
1.3L engine could still get to 60 in around 10 seconds. The 1.3L was also available as
a plug-in hybrid which upped the 0-60 time to 6½ seconds, but when you weren’t testing
this out it could also get 46 miles (75 km) on electric power – enough to get to work
and back. With Mercedes dominating in Formula 1, the
AMG version got even more power, 416 horses (310 kW) to be exact, delivering a sub 4 second
0-60 time, all from a 2.0L 4-cylinder engine. Inside there was a large glass dashboard following
the style of many premium German cars, along with voice control. With increasing global
sales, production expanded to China, Mexico, Indonesia and it made a triumphant return
to Thailand! The Family Car China concept might not have made it, but 25 years later
Chinese customers lined up for Mercedes new car.
The A-Class, like the Mini or the Fiat 500, was a revolution in design and packaging.
But unlike both of these cars it isn’t a classic. It didn’t have an iconic shape
that customers loved, and despite selling respectably it wasn’t a shape that spawned
a series of copies. Even Mercedes themselves abandoned their revolutionary design by the
third-generation car. It was all in their quest to get ahead of their German rivals.
Like those doo-wop bands standing on street corners in America in the 40s and 50s, the
friendly rivalry between BMW, Audi and Mercedes has redefined the A-Class into a truly successful
car. Mercedes naming system is a law unto itself!
Back in 1997 it seemed to make some sort of sense – the A140 used a 1.4L engine, the
A160 used a 1.6L engine. It all started to get confusing by the third generation though,
and today the A160, 180 and 200 all have a 1.3L engine, and the A220 and 250 have a 2.0L
engine.
