The Mercedes-Benz A-Class has reportedly been given an execution deadline until 2026, amid continued popularity in Europe, as the German auto giant scraps its plans for electric cars.
As previously reported via Drive, the hatchback and A-Class sedan may not make it to a new generation as Mercedes-Benz reduces its small car lineup from seven models to four, with higher costs and profit margins.
British publication Autocar claims that plans to end production of the A-Class this year have been “cancelled” and that it will now continue to be produced “until 2026”.
That means it will be produced alongside Mercedes-Benz’s next-generation small cars, which will come with the CLA sedan, CLA Shooting Brake pickup truck, and GLA and GLB SUVs, which are expected to debut this year.
The four new models will be supported by an electric platform known as MMA and will offer a choice of petrol, hybrid and electric powertrains.
The hatchback and A-Class sedan are discontinued, although reports imply that they have surpassed sales of the combined GLA and GLB petrol and diesel SUVs in Europe in 2022 (between 90,700 and 82,900 sales), as well as European sales of around 50,000 of the CLA range.
Outside of Europe, however, the A-Class is rarely that popular, as it has already been phased out in the U. S. In the U. S. , and in Australia, combined sales of the GLA and GLB are 50 percent higher than the EQA and EQB electric variants. of SUVs.
The decision to extend the life of the existing A-Class comes as Mercedes-Benz scales back its EV plans and delays its competitive targets to end sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles, amid stagnant EV sales.
The target of 50% of its sales being hybrid or electric by 2025 has been pushed back to “the second part of the decade”, and plans to move to fully electric vehicles “when the market allows” until 2030 have been abandoned.
“I don’t think anyone would have imagined that the transformation of the automotive industry, once every century, would happen in a straight line. There will be ups and downs,” Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius quoted as saying via Autocar.
However, just three years ago, when Mercedes-Benz announced its 2030 target in July 2021, Källenius hinted that sales of electric cars would increase.
“The shift [towards electric vehicles] is accelerating, especially in the luxury segment, to which Mercedes-Benz belongs. The tipping point is approaching and we will be in a position for markets to go all-electric by the end of this decade. . ” He said.
Reportedly, the plant in Rastatt, Germany, which produces the A-Class hatchback, has been changed to produce the vehicle alongside the next generation of small cars.
Autocar reports that the first prototype of the next-generation CLA sedan will be produced in September 2023, ahead of its planned launch later this year.
Petrol variants of the new style are expected to use a 1. 3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, now built through Geely in China, for use in the long-running Volvo, Geely and Lynk and Co styles, as well as Mercedes-Benz cars.
Meanwhile, the electric versions are expected to offer more than 750 km of WLTP range, a frugal energy consumption of 12 kWh/100 km, power outputs from 150 kW to more than 400 kW and fast charging of up to three hundred kW (with a “boost”). “Function”) to climb 400 km on a 15-minute charge.
Single- and twin-engine configurations are planned, adding a high-performance AMG edition (prototype shown) with the top power output above, far exceeding the 310 kW of the existing 2. 0-litre CLA45 S turbo petrol engine.
Journalist