BackQuite simply, a class apart
Quite simply, a class apart
PremiumA total reinvention: The third-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class is expected to release in India after June 2013.
The first time I visited Slovenia, I had only just heard the name before. I had no idea where the country really was, and knew little about its culture. My visit had turned out to be brief, with more time spent in the pretty countryside than in urban areas. So I now knew the geographical specifics, but not much else. And it was with delight that I welcomed the chance to travel to Slovenia once again to test the third generation of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Of course, like most drive schedules, this too promised to be tight on time, but the itinerary included about an hour in downtown Ljubljana before I had to fly out.
Shortly after touchdown in the Slovene capital, we were handed our test cars. I had opted for a diesel, dressed in what Mercedes-Benz calls Jupiter Red. The A-Class is perhaps the car that will help Mercedes-Benz tackle some of its perception of being a stodgy old brand. At first glance, the new A-Class is everything Mercedes-Benz, which means it’s classy, upmarket and packed with technology. What’s great is that it also manages to be young and sexy.
So I started off my A-Class experience in an A200 CDI, which is one of the mainstays of the range in terms of expected sales. I set off from the Ljubljana airport towards the country’s tiny coastline in the south-west. The car drove very smoothly, with no perceptive lag and very good acceleration. The A200 tops the diesel line-up in the A-Class. It has a 136 bhp output coupled with a healthy 300 Nm of torque. My car also had the latest 7G-DCT gearbox that Mercedes-Benz has introduced recently. There is an option of a six-speed manual as well. The same 1.8-litre engine block is also available in the A180 with a lower 109 bhp output. The 7G-DCT gearbox uses 2 spare sub-transmissions—each of which has its own individual clutch. This allows for faster gear changes and, therefore, a smoother drive. The gearbox has three modes—sport, economy and manual. Sport allows for changes at higher revs, economy focuses on higher efficiency, and manual allows you to control gear changes using the paddle shifters present behind the steering wheel.
The A-Class also has an Eco mode, which is a start-stop system that helps save fuel when the car comes to a standstill in traffic.
On the inside, the car is styled using only sporty elements. So you get black interiors, with lots of metal highlights in the centre console, around the AC vents, and on the dashboard. The car pairs up with your iPhone to listen to and share music, post updates on Facebook or Twitter, etc. It also allows friends to see where you are, and helps you find places of interest by integrating with the phone’s 3G network.
My drive route took me 135km from Ljubljana to Portoroz—an Italian tourist favourite on Slovenia’s Mediterranean coast. The drive included a mix of country roads and motorways—which helped me gauge the car’s response better. And its sporty, ready-to-perform character really came through. Unfortunately I encountered torrential rain for most of the drive, which denied me clear views of the beautiful green mountains and subsequently the coastline too.
After my drive, I did get a chance to walk about the old pedestrian-only part of central Ljubljana. With old buildings and churches, interspersed with local crafts on sale, and plenty of handmade ice cream, there’s plenty here for the tourist too! It’s an offbeat destination for most of us in India, especially with our assumptions of East Europe being bland after having emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. But I have to say Slovenia is stunning, and Ljubljana is a warm, friendly and very appealing city with a good mix of old and new. So if the driving roads aren’t hook enough, there are enough touristy pursuits to keep travellers satisfied.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz has declared that the A-Class will come to India in the second half of next year. It will join the slightly larger B-Class which arrives later this month. The company wants to offer Indian buyers the first really premium compacts. The A-Class will probably be pricey, likely to be positioned around ₹ 16-18 lakh. But it will certainly create a whole new segment and certainly a new benchmark too—since rivals like BMW, Audi and even Jaguar don’t have similar products ready for India just yet.
So can this car work in India? Maybe not at the price point it will target, but it will certainly create a niche for Mercedes-Benz—one which could reap rich dividends for the company in future. With traffic congestion increasing, and more buyers seeking premium yet compact cars to drive themselves (and not be driven), many are going to want a car that fits this requirement. And I, for one, do recognize that for once Mercedes-Benz is taking the lead, rather than allowing Audi or BMW to run away with yet another new segment in India.
Siddharth Vinayak Patankar is the Editor (Auto), NDTV.
Write to Siddharth at roadrunner@livemint.com
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