The Mercedes A-Class by the Car buyer of the Future

Well this rings very true in my world. My dad had believed that Mercedes was a brand targeted towards older people and even he thought he was not old enough yet to drive one. However he is very excited by the new models coming out and think that they now appeal to different generations. All good and well but this is my dad. I have always loved Mercedes because they are civilised, quiet, luxurious and occasionally exciting. I want to save up for one – it would not matter whether I have just passed my driving test or whether I’m nothing but wrinkles – I just want one. Some are comfy and quiet like the S-Class, sporty and refined like the SL and some are crazy, loud and monstrous: the AMG range.

This is what the A-Class used to look like.

So wouldn’t it be rather strange if Mercedes brought in a hatchback that’s no way near as pricey, comfortable or as fast as a traditional Mercedes? Well that’s just what they did back in 1997 with the A-Class. Let’s be kind and just say it wasn’t really a looker. But in 2012 Merc came fighting back with anew model that in my opinion completely changed its image. It’s gone from one of the worst looking hatches in the world to one of the best-looking ones, more attractive in almost every single aspect which I didn’t except, to be honest. I first saw the new A-Class in an ad for the AMG 45, and then did a review on my youtube channel about it.

Mercedes A45 AMG

Now you know about the A-Class’ childhood, let’s move on to some facts and figures. In Australia, you can get an A180 for about forty grand and for that you get a 1.6 litre engine and very nice interior and exterior indeed! But there is also a $90,000 AMG version called the A45. Now what AMG do is they take standard production cars, put a very, very, very powerful engines in it and takes people’s brains away. But we all want to know facts on our A45 so lets have a look. The 2.0 litre four cylinder engine pumps out 450 NM of torque and 0-62 MPH takes just 4.6 secs which is very good for a hatch.

Mercedes A-Class

If you just don’t have enough money in your pocket for the A45 just go with a normal A180, but still there are a few problems with that. Well only two in fact and they are small ones. The ride isn’t exactly like riding on a feather and every time you get to traffic lights the engine just stops which is fine if you are an eco-fuel mentalist but it can just get annoying sometimes. Apart from that, to me the A-Class is problem-free.

The A-Class competes with the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.

How does the it stack up against other Mercs? I’ll first use an animal comparison and say that as a brand Mercedes would be a house cat (a luxurious one of course), but AMG would be a lion that has just been shot in the buttocks by an arrow making a massive roar. The A-Class would be a puppy: eager, very excited and every time his owner moved in any way he/she would roll around very excitedly.

Now the A-Class has been compared with the others in its family-tree, how about outside the comfort zone? Like any car the A-Class has its rivals such as the BMW 1 Series and the Audi A3. The BMW might be better on paper but in my view the Merc smashes it on exotic interiors and exteriors, and same with the Audi.  Merc’s other rivals (Lexus, Infiniti, Jaguar) can’t compete because to me they have no cars to compete with, which is kind of sad actually.