Mercedes Not Interested in Audi A1 Supermini Rival

It used to be the case that luxury automobiles are long, wide saloons or coupes. But nowadays, the industry covers everything from the size of shoebox to that of an office building… with four-wheel drive of course.

Although there are a few contenders, the supermini market isn't packed with dedicated luxury vehicles. That's because most automakers chose to offer a wide range of options that will double the price you pay buy fill the little hatchback with leather.

Audi chose to turn the VW Polo platform into a more expensive model that could be considered a luxury product to some extent. We're talking about the A1, which has been in production (in Brussels) since 2010, while production of the new A1 Sportback began in 2012.

Now that the A-Class has moved into the C- or compact car segment, Mercedes doesn't have an interest in superminis. Company CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche told Auto Express magazine that Mercedes won't build a rival for the A1 any time soon. Instead, the new generation of smart cars will fill the gap in the market right under the A-Class.

Editor's note: Profit margins or not, we not so happy with this decision. Yes, Mercedes doesn't have sister brands, so development costs would be high. But we'd rather have a small Mercedes over any smart.

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New A-Liter BlueEFFICIENCY: The Most Frugal Mercedes Ever Made

Mercedes Benz has announced the BlueEFFICIENCY editions of the A180 petrol and A180 CDI models. These new models should have a lot of appeal for those looking to buy a luxury compact car that is cheap to tax and own.

The petrol 180 BE is powered by a 1.6-liter producing 122 PS and is expected to return a combined fuel consumption of 5.2 l/100km (54.3 mpg UK), while emitting only 120 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

The A180 CDI BE model uses a 1.5-liter turbodiesel (Renault-sourced) and offers 109 PS. Its eco credentials are even better: combined consumption of just 3.6 l/100km and CO2 emissions of 92 grams per kilometer.

Both are said to be 5% better at sipping than their non-BlueEFFICIENCY based models, thanks to improvements like partially covered grilles, 15mm lower suspension, longer gearing and revisions to engine management.

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New Mercedes A-Class Arrives in September 2012

Mercedes has issued a statement saying that the new A-Class luxury hatchback model will arrive at dealerships this September in Europe, priced from under €24,000. Considering how well the B-Class did, we expect it to be a huge success for the German brand.

The car will be produced both in Germany and in Hungary, and powered by a range of engines with outputs ranging from 109 hp to 211 hp.

"The new A-Class is the heartbeat of a new generation at Mercedes-Benz", stresses Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Cars responsible for Sales & Marketing. "We have taken the opportunity to design a completely new vehicle which sets standards in its segment. I am convinced that the new A-Class will make a significant contribution to our Mercedes-Benz 2020 growth strategy."

Standard equipment will include air conditioning, Audio 5 USB, electric windows all round, Headlamp Assist and 12-button multifunction steering wheel. You also get radar-based COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST system.
The coolest car you can get is the 2.0-liter powered A 250 Sport, offering 211 horsepower and a 7-speed DCT gearbox for €36,860.

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Mercedes-Benz taking aim at Audi RS3 with new A45 AMG

With the launch of the new A-Class, Mercedes-Benz is getting serious about the premium hatchback segment – much more than it was with the previous A-Class, B-Class and the old, C-Class Sport Coupe. And with the premium hatchback territory comes the high-end hot hatch market. Audi is already playing that game with the RS3 and BMW is heading in with the new M135i, so Mercedes is going to need an entry of its own. And this is the latest on its development.

According to British weekly Autocar, Benz is preparing to launch a new A45 AMG early next year with a transverse 2.0-liter turbo four producing as much as 330 horsepower and over 300 pound-feet of torque. That's about par with the competition, but produced from less displacement thanks to input from AMG High-Performance Engines that provides the power for the company's Formula One racing team (not to mention McLaren and Force India).

The power is tipped to be put down to all four wheels by a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, tuned to mimic rear-drive handling characteristics. Suspension and rolling stock are anticipated to be greatly enhanced, as will the aero kit over the A250 Sport "engineered by AMG" pictured above. Stop/start and regenerative braking will reportedly help make the A45 AMG more economical than its rivals while matching their five-second 0-60 times.

via: Autocar

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Mercedes partners with Glympse, adds location-sharing tech to A-Class

The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class continues to pack in the latest infotainment tech. This time it's in-dash integration of the location-sharing service, Glympse. Mercedes and Glympse announced their new partnership this week at the Detroit Telematics Conference.

Normally found on smartphones, Glympse allows a user to select people with whom to share his or her location. Those people can then see where the user is on an interactive map that's displayed on either a web browser or the free smartphone Glympse app. The hallmark feature of Glympse is that users set a timer for how long their location will be shared, helping to ensure privacy after reaching their destination.

I've used Glympse before to track the progress of inbound relatives on the interstate and found it to be useful in situations that require a traveling party be punctual. While it's perfectly usable in the car today just by launching the Glympse app on your smartphone, this partnership with Mercedes marks the first time that the service will be integrated directly into the car. Unfortunately, that car is the new A-Class, which will first launch in Europe before coming to the U.S. If received well by customers, Glympse could become as common an in-car app as others like Pandora are today. 

via Geek Wire

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Mercedes A-Class to Get Very Efficient New Engines

Mercedes-Benz officials have announced that they will be introducing a new range of engines, along with its latest A-Class, in Europe, three of which are petrol and two are diesel.

When it comes to the new petrol engines, they come in 1.6- and 2.0-liter forms and all are turbocharged and feature direct injection, with power outputs ranging from 122hp to 211hp. They get a whole range of emissions and performance tweaks to make the engine that little bit more appealing for the European market, as it gets stop/start, CAMTRONIC technology on the 1.6-liter motor (achieving earlier intake cut-off and valve lift adjustment, in order to reduce throttle loss under part throttle), rapid multi-spark ignition and new piezo fuel injectors for a more controlled and efficient combustion. All these new technologies give the engines very good fuel economy figures of 5.5l/100km (43 US mpg) for the 1.6 and 6.1 l/100km (39 US mpg) for the 2.0-liter.

The diesel engines, a 109 hp 1.8-liter and a 170hp 2.2-liter, are said to deliver considerably improved economy over their predecessors, with the first engine achieving 3.8l/100km (62 US mpg) and 98 g/km CO2, while the latter achieves 4.3l/100km (55 US mpg) and 112 g/km CO2. The smaller engine is the only engine of the two to still be offered with a six-speed manual gearbox, and, as an option, one can specify the 7-speed autobox which comes as standard on the larger engine.

With BMW currently having the world’s most efficient and advanced engines, Mercedes were bound to attempt to start catching up. Current Mercedes sales in Europe aren’t as strong as they could be due to the relatively old-fashioned volume engines they are currently using, and this new generation of smaller and more efficient powerplants is definitely a step in the right direction for the German manufacturer.

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