2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Production Starts, To Debut At Beijing Motor Show

Ahead of its official debut at the upcoming Beijing Motor Show, Mercedes-Benz announced the start of its production of the new generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class from its Rastatt plant near Stuttgart, Germany. Starting the serial production, Markus Schafer, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production & Supply Chain, drove the first vehicle off the assembly line in Rastatt. The German carmakers will manufacture the new A-Class in five plants on three continents, and is the first model of the fourth generation of compact cars that replaces the predecessor model produced since 2012. The company will launch the new A-Class in India as well by 2019.

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"Mercedes-Benz Cars starts an unprecedented ramp-up cascade with the A-Class. In our global production network, we can ramp-up the production of our vehicles in proven top quality and supply the global market even faster. Using modern industry 4.0 technologies our plants are becoming even more flexible and efficient," says Markus Schafer.

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The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class made its debut earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show and will officially go on sale in May. As far as the changes go, the 2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class comes with the completely new multimedia system MBUX - Mercedes-Benz User Experience, which is activated with the words 'Hey Mercedes'. Visually, the new A-Class has grown up as it provides more shoulder-room, elbow-room and headroom. However, if reports are to be believed then the Chinese market will most likely get the long wheelbase version while rest of the markets will get the standard version. The new A-Class also features the very latest driving assistance systems with cooperative driver support, sourced from the new S-Class.

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In terms of visual changes, the new A-Class resembles a lot like the A-Class hatchback up front. It gets the signature diamond-studded grille design along with the LED headlamps with eyebrow-like LED DRLs. The front bumper is also sourced from its hatch sibling along with the large air intakes with black twin partition blades. But, from profile, the new A-Class has a more of a coupe-ish from the new CLS. The sporty twin-5-spoke alloy wheels, ORVMs with integrated LED turn signal lights and blackened B-pillar gives the new A-Class an extremely sporty look.

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Powering the new A-Class will be the same turbocharged 1.3-liter petrol engine from its hatch sibling, churning out almost the same digits, coupled to a 9-Speed DCT gearbox and also a 6-Speed manual transmission.