Entry-level luxury is a difficult business enterprise. You have to produce not just a luxury badge, but the trappings that are involved with it, plus a robustly engineered package deal with powertrains to match, the hottest tech that present day consumers hope, and all the even though generating positive the cost does not creep up also substantial. It’s no wonder that for most luxury car makes, it is the segments earlier mentioned that end up creating the larger sized volumes, as customers often bypass the entry level and extend for the even larger, superior car. With the new A-course Limousine, Mercedes is targeting not only new aspirants to the model, but also current consumers who’d like a second, lesser automobile in their fleet. And even though the initially era of the brand’s MFA (Modular Front Architecture) styles – A-course and B-course hatchbacks, CLA and GLA – were a realistic good results, Mercedes feels it has perfected the system with the second era. So, have they carried out it?
Mercedes A course Limousine: exterior style and design
There’s often a acutely aware decision to make an entry-level luxury car look distinctive from the rest of the vary maybe a component of charge, or more likely to attractiveness to youthful consumers that may be entering the fold. It’s crucial to be aware, at this juncture, that the CLA, the A-Limousine’s predecessor in India, did go down this route to an extent. It was a four-door coupe with frameless home windows, a swooping roofline and quite aggressive lines, as opposed to the softer, simpler look of even larger Mercs. While there is a new CLA in Merc’s world-wide vary, they’ve selected the A Limo for India this time about for its extra rear-seat room, which was a shortcoming of the aged CLA.
Styling is in line with the rest of the Mercedes family with the nose bearing a resemblance to the CLS.
And nevertheless it is continue to comparatively compact and technically entry-level, you will concur this new A-course looks far more developed up and in line with the rest of the family. In simple fact, from the front, it is a dead ringer for the alluring CLS, with its triangular headlamps, sharp LED DRLs and upturned grille. It may possibly not have the curved roof of the CLA, but its profile is continue to quite attractive, with a single, assured shoulder line, and there are also a intelligent-hunting set of aero-effective 17-inch alloy wheels that no doubt add to its course-primary gasoline economic climate. Incidentally, the A’s arrow-like condition sets a planet document for the least expensive drag coefficient of any production car, at .22cd. The rear is less dramatic, with a simpler iteration of the CLS’ angular LED tail-lamps and unusually sited reflector strips in the bumper, but it all ties with each other properly as a cohesive style and design.
No CLA-like curved roof nevertheless the A-course Limousine continue to looks attractive.
Mercedes A course Limousine: inside and functions
Inside the cabin is the place the new A-course truly delivers the wow component. The aged-era cars never felt fairly up to the substantial regular of the A few-pointed Star, be that in style and design, excellent or level of products for India, but this alterations all that. There’s no skimping listed here, with substantial-excellent plastics, brightwork in all the suitable destinations and comfortable-contact resources almost everywhere. They’ve selected a superior spec for India, also, with cream-colored upholstery (it does soiled easily nevertheless), a black sprint top rated and open-pore wood, imparting a correctly deluxe really feel. The rotary AC vents, an evolution of the types in the aged CLA, are particularly extraordinary and even element ambient lighting.
Sprint style and design is standard new age Mercedes with twin ten.25-inch substantial-res screens for the instrumentation and infotainment.
Then there’s the style and design of the dashboard, which is truly clean. The lower-50 percent is arranged like a shelf onto which a trim panel of two adjoined ten.25-inch substantial-def screens sits. Basically a lesser edition of the MBUX infotainment device you will discover in a GLE or GLS, it absolutely isn’t compact on functions, with just about almost everything from the even larger cars present listed here, together with 64-color ambient lighting, an AI-based electronic assistant and connected-car tech with Alexa integration. You even get all the customisable electronic instrument cluster layouts. Other really feel-superior functions are wireless mobile phone charging, twin-zone climate command, a big (nevertheless not panoramic) sunroof, and run seats with memory for the driver and front passenger.
Touchscreen packs in hottest MBUX program with AI voice assistant and connected tech. Digital dials supply a selection of customisation possibilities.
Talking of the front seats, they’re a contact lesser than what you’d discover in, say, a C-course and so really do not supply fairly as cossetting an working experience, but they’re continue to lots comfortable. This is crucial since the A Limousine is more likely than any other Mercedes sedan to be owner-driven.
five USB ports in the cabin, but all are Style-C.
The back again seat is just as crucial in our current market, on the other hand, and this is the place the change from four-door-coupe to sedan has truly paid out off. Place back again listed here is truly generous for the car’s size, particularly kneeroom, many thanks to the long two,729mm wheelbase, and the headroom, many thanks to the taller roof. This provides it a distinctive edge about its only real rival, the BMW two Series Gran Coupe, whose sloping roof truly compromises rear-seat room and comfort and ease. The comparatively slender cabin will make it superior suited to just two, and the even larger challenge is that you are sat quite minimal down, so it forces your knees up. You can get about this to an extent by tucking your ft under the front seats there’s lots of put for them.
Taller roof and longer wheelbase usually means more room than the aged CLA, and new rivals.
However you see a spare tyre sitting in the boot of these imported pre-production cars, the locally assembled (from day 1, unlike the CLA) shopper cars will have a exclusive recess for the spare under the boot ground. The volumes, incidentally, are 405 litres for the petrol and 395 litres for the diesel, and you can even fold down the back again seats to pack in more things.
Mercedes A course Limousine: engines and overall performance
There will be a few flavours of the A-course limousine at start – the A 200 petrol, A 200d diesel and the AMG A 35, which will be the second locally assembled AMG design in India, and we will overview that quickly. For now, let’s adhere to the bread-and-butter styles, setting up with the petrol.
While ‘200’ at the time denoted a 1.five turbo-petrol hybrid in the C-course and has considering that been changed by a two.-litre turbo-petrol motor, in the A 200, it is a 1.three-litre turbo petrol. Confusing, maybe, but really do not be set off by the modest swept volume, since it will make a rather balanced 163hp and 250Nm of torque. Other stats worthy of be aware are a claimed 8.3sec -100kph time and a course-primary ARAI gasoline effectiveness rating of 17.5kpl. As with the aged MFA styles, the A-course is front-wheel drive, and the A 200 places its power down by means of a 7-pace twin-clutch automated.
It is really moderately refined when you start it up and in mild cruising at minimal revs, but as the tacho needle crosses about three,500rpm, things start to get a little bit also audible. The thing is, you will often discover you extending this motor over and above that, since it does will need to be labored a little bit to get going. Furthermore, in Comfort and ease method specially, the straightforward-going gearbox does expose fairly a little bit of turbo lag, which you will want to extinguish by kicking down tricky on the accelerator, or dropping a gear with the paddle shifter.
The A200’s 163hp, 1.three-litre turbo petrol is moderately refined at minimal revs but will get audible past three,500rpm. A 200d’s 150hp, two.-litre diesel provides easy torque from minimal revs.
Sport method rectifies this a good offer, but then you are continually mindful of the motor performing more durable. However, at the time it is on the boil, responses are superior and, nevertheless it is not outright sporty, you can derive fairly a little bit of pleasure from this powertrain. The DCT, nevertheless quick to change, can really feel a minimal clunky under duress nevertheless, say when downshifting instantly on an incline.
The A 200d has an motor to match its badge – the OM654 two.-litre diesel you will discover in the C, E, CLS, GLC and GLE. It’s a lower condition of tune, of study course, but its outputs of 150hp and 320Nm are far from shabby in this lesser automobile. It also will get a course-primary ARAI figure – 21.35kpl – and a claimed -one hundred time of 8.2sec. It also takes advantage of a new 8-pace twin-clutch auto gearbox.
Initially impressions are somewhat superior, and it basically feels the more refined of the two in everyday use. That is mainly since it is far more easy at transferring the A-course along, generating all its torque from truly minimal down, meaning you not often have to flex your suitable foot all the way. If you do venture toward the redline, you will of study course be fulfilled with fairly a little bit of diesel clatter. Punching down tricky in the lower gears will give you a sound burst of acceleration, but also fairly a little bit of torque steer. This absolutely feels the stronger of the two engines, and offered there isn’t also major a cost gap between the two, it would be our choose.
Mercedes A course Limousine: trip comfort and ease and dealing with
This is an spot the A-course Limousine is a large move up from its predecessor. The suspension is lifted for India, which provides it good ground clearance, but that has not appear at the expense of trip comfort and ease, as we’ve viewed in some other locally assembled Mercs in the past. In simple fact, we’d even say it rides superior than some of its larger sized sedan siblings.
Suspension has been lifted for India but it does not appear at the expense of trip comfort and ease.
The petrol edition specially has a quite superior suspension tune, with a comfortable setup that will take the edge off sharp bumps fantastically. It even stays steady as the speeds build and will keep lousy streets out of head of your passengers. The only shortcoming is refinement, and you can hear a whole lot of highway sounds in the cabin, which is maybe the only un-Mercedes-like side of the driving working experience.
The diesel is slightly firmer set up to bear the extra body weight of its motor, and you will really feel more of the highway in the cabin as you go along. That is not to say it is awkward. The A 200d also has a slightly heavier steering, and even though I individually want that, numerous will like the much easier helm of the petrol edition.
The petrol’s softer set-up will take edges off sharp bumps fantastically. You can really feel more of the highway inside of the cabin with the diesel’s stiffer set-up.
As opposed to the two Series Gran Coupe, the A sedan isn’t a prodigious corner-carver. There’s fairly a little bit of human body roll, the ESC cuts in even when turned off, and the steering is fairly mild. But then comfort and ease is the title of the activity with this sedan, and at that, it excels.
Mercedes A course Limousine: estimated cost and verdict
It’s obvious that Mercedes has learnt from its initially era of MFA cars and switched things up for the new A-course. It no longer feels ‘entry level’ in any way, and it amplifies the attributes customers look for in their Benz, like room, comfort and ease, excellent, restrained design and style and substantial tech. It does not attempt to do sporty and that’s just as properly (there’s the AMG for that) we only wish they’d labored on refinement a little bit more. That knockout cost, on the other hand, may possibly not be on the playing cards, as there will be only 1 totally loaded variant of every single, the A 200 and A 200d, and we hope them to charge about Rs 40-forty two lakh (ex-showroom), comparable to the BMW two Series Gran Coupe. So, is it a worthy setting up level to the Mercedes-Benz family? This time about, it positive feels like it.