The 2019 Mercedes-Benz A-Class has been revealed with all-new looks that now bear the new family design, and smarter tech that is highlighted by a new infotainment system.
While it may look like a facelift, the entire A-Class is actually an all-new model. This design language, called Sensual Purity, continues the trend that the CLS-Class started. Gone are the aggressive lines of the third generation model, now having a design that is more fluid and more mature. The theme here is removing the unnecessary lines and creases from the past A-Class, and replacing it with a cleaner sheetmetal. It now possesses the stylish grille that we first saw from the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class 4-door coupe, flanked by LED headlights with the “toch-like” LED daytime running lights. The hood has been lowered now, giving it a sleeker, more elongated appearance, an illusion that it has a longer hood than its predecessor. At the back, it gains a more pronounced tail light design that has a similar design to those in the CLS-Class.
One of the main criticisms of the third generation A-Class is its poor rear space. Thanks to a longer and wider body, there is now more room for the rear occupents. As a matter of fact, trunk space has gone up by 370 liters, 29 more than the previous model. Once settled in, you’re greeted to a revolutionary interior that’s filled with interesting shapes and surfaces. It now has a more “avant-garde” looks, or so the press release says. The ambient lighting is extremely configurable with 64 colors to choose from.
The highlight of the interior are its two free standing TFT LCD displays. It can be configured in three ways. You can either have the standard twin 7-inch display set-up, an optional 7-inch and 10.25 inch set-up, the bigger one being for the new MBUX infotainment syste, or you could go S-Class and have both screens at 10.25 inches in size. The infotainment screen is Mercedes-Benz’s first ever use of a touch screen, while the rotary knob controller has now been ditched, in favor of a laptop-style touch pad to control the infotainment system.
Let’s talk about MBUX, which is their new Linux-based infotainment system. The highlight here is its completely new graphical user interface, and its new Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice assistant. Just like how Apple’s AI voice assistant, Siri, can be summoned by saying “Hey, Siri!”, you can also say “Hey, Mercedes!” to summon MBUX to life. We’re moving to an age were cars are now mere smartphones with four wheels.
Other high tech options include high tech features such as the head-up display, Car-to-X communication, the Vehicle Tracker and the Mercedes Me app collection. It’s also boasting plenty of safety features, such as Active Distance Assist, Active Emergency Stop Assist, Active Lane Change Assist and Active Brake Assist (standard), while the PRE-SAFE Plus can recognize an impending rear-end collision, and then the car will firmly apply the brakes, minimizing a potential forward jolt.
For now, there will be three engine choices. First is an A200 with a 1.4 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, producing 160 hp and 250 Nm of torque. Next is the A250 with a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that produces 221 hp and 350 Nm of torque. Lastly, the A180d uses a 1.5 liter 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine, producing 114 hp and 260 Nm of torque. The petrol engines can be mated to either a 7G-DCT dual clutch automatic or 6-sepeed manual, while the diesel can only be mated to the 7G-DCT, at least for now. The A200 can sprint from 0-100 kph in 8 seconds flat, the A250 in 6.2 seconds, and the A180d in 10.5 seconds. Optionally, a 4MATIC all wheel drive system and adaptive suspension is available.
Once this small luxury car arrives in the Philippines, will you be picking this one, the Audi A3, or the BMW 1 Series?
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