Mercedes-Benz won’t pull the covers off its all-new A-Class hatchback until 2018, but the teaser campaign is now in full swing.
It kicked off last month with the reveal of a concept previewing a
and now Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche has posted a picture of himself posing with a camouflaged next-generation hatchback, on LinkedIn.
He wrote a long post about the excitement of the final testing programmes for upcoming cars, in the process confirming that the new A-Class family will boast eight different models and that it will offer more advanced assistance systems that “pave the way into the future of autonomous driving.” That’s all but a confirmation that much of the semi-autonomous driving tech found in the new E-Class will hand-me-down to the new compact.
As mentioned, the range will expand to include new body styles, including a conventional sedan version previewed by the aforementioned
, pictured below.
Expect it to be more practical than the current ‘four-door-coupe’ CLA, and perhaps priced closer to the hatchback.
As for the CLA,
reports that the next-generation – while still A-Class-based – will sport a ‘fastback’ design, somewhat reminiscent of the
that was revealed at Geneva earlier this year (pictured below).
Giving the CLA a more emotive design would make sense, given that there will now be a conventional four-door version of the A-Class to woe those buyers that want a sedan. Having lost the obligation to attempt any real kind of practicality, the new CLA could be endowed with wider shoulders and dramatically sloping tail to appeal to those who appreciate form over function.
Another rumoured new A-Class family member is the GLB, which is expected to have a more rugged design than the GLA, as if it’s trying to be a miniaturised, modernised G-Class. Its design is said to have been partly inspired by the
of 2025.
