The much awaited Mercedes-Benz A-Class has been launched in India at a starting price of 21.93 lakh. This new luxury hatchback creates a strong statement with superb styling and ultra-modern features. With the new A-Class, Mercedes-Benz India is looking to attract high-end customers who love to have the perfect combination of luxury and technology in their vehicles.
Mercedes Benz A-Class boasts of a stylish exterior with bold design cues that help it stand out from the crowd. The large front grille with its prominent three-pointed star logo gives the vehicle a truly luxurious appearance. Moreover, superior quality leather materials, along with creature comforts, have been provided to pamper the occupants. However, the new hatchback is more of a driver-centric vehicle which is immensely fun to drive, owing to its low stance and powerful engine.
The luxury hatchback comes loaded with several high-tech safety equipments, which is at par with bigger luxury vehicles. The list of equipment includes Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), attention assist and seven airbags, ergonomic cockpit, apart from a host of other features. In addition, this vehicle boasts of a strong structure that confirms to the safety requirements of Euro NCAP, which gives the A-Class hatch a five-star rating.
In India, Mercedes-Benz A-Class would get two different engines, namely a 1.6 litre, 4- cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and a 2.2 litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine. The 1.6 litre power-mill generates 122 bhp of power and 200Nm of torque, allowing the car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 9.76 seconds. The top speed of this version is 202 km/h. Apart from this, the engine is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch automatic transmission. Interestingly, this automatic gearbox has three different modes - Economy, Sport and Manual. Gearing can be controlled by using paddle shifters on the steering wheel. In comparison to this model, the A 180 CDI gets a diesel engine that generates 109 bhp of power and 260 Nm of torque.
Interestingly, Mercedes has priced the diesel variant lower at 21.93 lakh than the petrol version A 180 Sport, which is priced at Rs 22.73 lakh. Moreover, the 2.2 litre diesel engine would give the class leading fuel efficiency of 20.6 kmpl, making it the most fuel efficient luxury car in the country. The petrol variant would deliver a fuel efficiency of about 15kmpl. Mercedes A-Class has received good response globally with over 90,000 bookings within a month of its launch. With cutting-edge technology and competitive pricing, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class should get good response from Indian buyers too. Initially, the luxury hatchback will be imported to India as completely built unit. The company is expected to start the assembly of this vehicle at its factory near Chennai by next year only.
