Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Brunch
Luxurious, compact and confident
Offering comfort and quality, this 'entry-level' sedan is anything but...
Small cars mean a small price. It’s a mindset deeply ingrained into the car buyer’s psyche since the dinky Maruti 800 revolutionised Indian roads over three decades ago. Conversely, customers are happy to pay big money for a big car which is why SUVS are a rage not just amongst people that buy them, but the companies that make them. The thing is big cars are hugely profitable for automakers because they can charge their customers significantly more than what it costs to make them and this crucial ‘price-to-size’ ratio cuts across the full spectrum of cars in this market.
Which is why the entry-level luxury segment is a particularly tricky one because downsizing a car to something that’s not larger than a Honda City and charging three times more for it is at odds with the simplistic value perception of price and size. It’s no surprise then, that the bigger (and more expensive) luxury cars sell in higher numbers than the entry level models.
It with all this learning that Mercedes has launched the allnew A-class sedan (or limousine in Mercedes-speak) to target entry level buyers, which though more difficult to please (and to find) is a crucial first step into the brand.
The Mercedes CLA, the A-class sedan’s predecessor, was entry ticket into the Mercedes club and looked great too, but it wasn’t engineered the way a Merc should have been. And that’s something Mercedes has set right with the A-class.
First impressions of the A-class sedan are that it’s got all the luxury trappings of its bigger siblings but in a more compact package. It strikes a confident pose, with its handsome nose, strong shoulders and mature proportions. Inside the cabin is where the new A-class really ups the ante. There’s no skimping on quality and you are surrounded with top-notch plastics which look rich and are a soft to touch. The cream coloured upholstery looks great (though it soils easily) and
TOP WAGON
The Mercedes A-class sedan is more about low pulse rate travel than lighting up a race track the rotary vents have a lovely retro feel. The dash design is typically Mercedes with a pair of 10.25 inch high-res screens (one for the instrumentation and one for the infotainment) sitting side-by-side to form one passive panel.
There’s no shortage of features either. 64-colour ambient lighting, an Ai-based digital assistant and connected-car tech with Alexa integration are some of the gizmos you get. Other goodies include wireless phone charging, dual-zone climate control, a large (though not panoramic) sunroof, and powered seats with memory for the driver and front passengers
Speaking of the front seats, they’re a touch smaller than what you’d find in something like the bigger C-class but are comfortably snug. The space at the back is really generous for a car of this size and we were particularly impressed with the head and kneeroom on offer, which is considerably more than the BMW 2 series Gran Coupe, its only direct rival.
There will be three flavours of the A-class limousine at launch – the A 200 petrol, A 200d diesel and the fiery AMG A 35. The vanilla model is the petrol, which gets a modest 1.3 turbo developing 163hp and accelerates to 100kph in 8.3sec – not very quick – but then this car is more about low pulse rate travel than lighting up a race track. Mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, this engine is pretty smooth and pulls quite smartly. It’s quick enough when you want it to be but rev it hard and it gets a bit noisy. Noisier than even the diesel, which surprisingly feels the more refined of the two. In fact, the diesel A 200d’s 150hp, 2.0-litre diesel offers a thick swathe of grunt from low revs and is my pick of the range. You rarely have to pin the accelerator pedal to the carpet to get a move on and the the strong shove in the back this engine gives you feels deeply rewarding. The suspension too is absorbant and rounds of bumps and sharp edges nicely to give you a plush ride.
And its this plushness and other Mercedes traits like comfort, quality that makes this entry-level Merc feel anything but ‘entrylevel.’ It’s a car that’s certainly worthy of the three-pointed star.
THE A-CLASS SEDAN HAS GOT ALL THE LUXURY TRAPPINGS OF ITS BIGGER SIBLINGS BUT IS MORE COMPACT
The views expressed by the columnist are personal