A for effort
Hello Mercedes A-Class £28,700 OTR/£30,830 as tested
In September the new Mercedes A-Class was the third best-selling car in the UK – they shifted 8,005 of the things. In a single month. That’s more than the Focus, more than the Mini, more even than the Qashqai. Ker-ching. There must be reasons buyers are flocking to it like helpless moths to a flame, and our job is to find out what they are. So, no topspec peacockery here, it’s the best-selling, 160bhp 1.3-litre A200 petrol for us, in AMG line trim. The sacrifices we make...
Good news first, Merc has made it mercifully easy to spec your A-Class. Trims are limited to Sport or AMG line (£1,200 more) then it’s a case of ladelling on the options, mostly grouped into handy packs. So, on top of the £28,700 base price (or £370 a month if you prefer), we’ve added aluminium trim (£120), the premium pack (big screens, heated seats, park assist and 64-colour ambient lighting for £2,395) and augmented reality navigation (£495).
Full tech dive incoming, once I’ve got my head around it all, but first up, two crucial testing procedures I advise for any new car: loading the boot with 1,000 litres of compost (bagged, preferably) and unleashing my tiny daughter and her sticky, inquisitive fingers on the hi-tech interior. It passed both, the former with flying colours (although the handling got a bit Clio V6), the latter... well, nothing broke, but smudges galore across the slab of screen. Is this progress? I’m looking forward to finding out...