NEW A-Class - or is it an Astra?

[Gucci]

Auto Express running with these new images thought to be the A-Class replacement. Conventional hatchback to challenge 1-series and A3. Styling courtesy of Vauxhall.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Id never trust AutoExpress's own images TBH, for some reason they always look like a Vauxhall - Whatever make they are meant to be!

Still, looks better than this:

 

[LTD]

Am I the only one thinking the top image is a Mercedes (FIAT) Bravo ?

 

[moonloops]

Subaru hatch rear and dodge truck front

 

[A140driver]

Knowing how reliable Auto Express's scoops of what new cars will look like it will probably not really look much like that at all. I don't think it looks too bad though, mind you, I quite like the W169 A-class.

 

[Gucci]

Knowing how reliable Auto Express's scoops of what new cars will look like it will probably not really look much like that at all. I don't think it looks too bad though, mind you, I quite like the W169 A-class.

I quite like the A-Class, new and old. Very different from the crowd. I know it has its critics, but an original approach nonetheless.

 

[LTD]

I quite like the A-Class

Next door has one.

It will be alone as far as I stay here.

 

[Smarties]

Id never trust AutoExpress's own images TBH, for some reason they always look like a Vauxhall - Whatever make they are meant to be!

Still, looks better than this:

That's a matter of Opinion. For a small car, which it is, I think it has got a nice line to it.

 

[WDB124066]

Not a great fan of the Chinese Eyes, rest of the car looks OK to me. Can you just imagine the AMG version with a stongking great motor in that tiny body.

GTI watch out!

W.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Interesting. This is effectively a hatchback interpretation of the "F800 Style" B Class concept (below), with conventional doors.

Never mind the Astra, though. The design is worryingly close to that of Hyundai's i-flow concept, otherwise known as next year's i40:

 

[Mike Walker]

Looks like Seat Leon from here.

 

[crockers]

Pity there aren't any Alfa Romeo designers going free. I think their range of cars are very attractive and individualistic. Pity about the mechanics / dealers etc.

 

[moonloops]

Pity there aren't any Alfa Romeo designers going free. I think their range of cars are very attractive and individualistic. Pity about the mechanics / dealers etc.

apart from the boggle eyed MiTo

 

[EDZ649]

Am I the only one thinking the top image is a Mercedes (FIAT) Bravo ?

Well if it is lets hope the build quality is better than the Fiat!

 

[grober]

The abandonment of the sandwich floor concept for the new A and B class chassis certainly opens the door to a lower "sleeker" look for the new models. Makers of big luxury "barges" are increasingly having to strike up partnerships with volume manufacturers who know how to make small cars economically. Witness Saab's hunt for a partner to make the SAAB 9-1. Mercedes "target" for the original A class was the VW Golf market. They would be the first to admit their first foray into the mass market was a complete failure when you compare the manufacturing volumes of the 2 models

 

[npuk]

It is a shame they have decided to drop the sandwich floor design. I quite like the look of the car in the pictures in the first post. Looks better than in pictures we have seen so far earlier this year. Next-Gen 2012 Mercedes-Benz A-Class to be sportier | BenzInsider.com - A Mercedes-Benz Fan Blog

 

[Michael G]

Astra!?
I like it and don't see how it looks like an Astra.
The next gen B class will be a mini MPV like the A & current B.

 

[rhud]

Just hope their market research is accurate. They are going to lose a significant number of (old,like me!) traditional A Class customers. But are BMW 1 series fans going to flock to MB?

The A Class was doomed because:

1 They tried to produce it cheaply (W168). That didn't work because the car was no good.

2 They then had to get it right (W169) but that meant considerable increase in production costs ( and next to no increase in prices).

Next year,almost certainly, I will buy a new A Class - the best-built small car available in the UK - before they stop making them. Unless someone can convince that the Golf Plus - more expensive,poorer residuals - is a better bet, which no-one has yet!

 

[philush]

looks like a kia c'eed to me, but, marginal improvement on the existing imo

 

[Rory]

Mercedes is in a collaboration with Nissan/Renault for small cars, aren't they?