Following earlier plans for the discontinuation of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class model line as soon as this year, the German manufacturer has cancelled plans to retire its compact model, which is now set to be produced into 2026, Autocar has reported.
This development follows confirmation of the German manufacturer’s about-turn on its direction firmly towards battery-electric vehicles, and Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius has stated that the carmaker’s latest studies have projected that plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles will consist of just half of the manfacturer’s global sales by its previously-cited 2030 target.
“I don’t think anyone had ever thought that the once-in-a-century transformation of the auto industry will be a straight line. There will be peaks and troughs,” Källenius said, who pointed to the current price disparity between EVs and their ICE-powered counterparts as one reason that the take-up of EVs have been slower than expected.
Mercedes-Benz’s own studies predict that demand for EVs will be mainly in the small- and medium-sized car segments, and that cost parity between EVs and ICE models “is many years away,” according to Källenius, who says that the difference is visible in their pricing.
Continuation of production for the A-Class has seen Mercedes-Benz alter its manufacturing plant in Rastatt, Germany to be able to produce cars based on the current MFA platform for compact models, as well as cars built on the MMA platform.
The MMA platform, or Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture to give its full name, has been claimed to be the automaker’s final platform to support internal combustion engines, though its focus is primarily on fully electric models. This platform will be first used for the third-generation CLA, a concept model for which was unveiled last September.
Electric drive in the CLA Concept is the Mercedes-Benz Electric Drive Unit, that is comprised of the motor, transmission and power electronics which have been developed entirely in-house, and is the first drive unit in a family of drive units that will be deployed to serve a number of model lines, Mercedes-Benz said of the CLA Concept’s powertrain.
The CLA Concept gets a 238 PS electric motor with two-speed transmission, and the concept is claimed to have a WLTP range of up to 750 km, and features an 800-volt electrical architecture supporting up to 250 KW of DC fast charging that brings an additional 400 km of range in just 15 minutes.
While the CLA Concept is configured for rear-wheel-drive, its modular design enables its use in AWD applications and therefore, to feature dual-motor powertrains, and is scalable for use in different vehicle segments, Mercedes-Benz said last year.
Meanwhile, combustion-engined versions of the next CLA have been planned with the German manufacturer’s M282 four-cylinder petrol engine, which is to be manufactured by Geely in China and is set to be deployed in future models from Geely, Lynk & Co and Volvo.
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