The upright A box is now a thing of the past, with the new A Class from Mercedes Benz, which was shown in Bangkok last week. I was no lover of the previous model which looked a bit like a Honda Jazz on steroids. And an overpriced “Honda Jazz” at that. It was quirky in its styling and has been fairly rare on our streets.
The new A Class is quite different from its predecessor, and is now an E-Class that has been on a diet. The corporate grille announces it as a Mercedes-Benz, but the car is only 4.3 meters long.
New A-Class from Mercedes-Benz.
Suspension is likewise very Mercedes with MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear. There are three diesel engines with a 1.5 liter, two 1.8s and a 2.1. There are also four petrol engines: two of 1.6 liters and two of 2.0 liters. The suspension settings are in the chassis options, with ‘normal’, sports and ‘comfort’.
Buyers will have to adjust to the new concept of A-Class, but with prices around 1.8 – 2 million Thai baht, we could see more of this new iteration than the previous one.
