Mercedes A-Class Electric gives premium hatchback a future

A new generation of Mercedes A-Class is on the cards and it could use all-electric power, which would ensure the firm’s premium hatchback will live on well into the next decade.

Even though the current A-Class has been around since 2018, the new car isn’t expected to arrive until 2029. That’s after the current model bows out in 2028 having seen its lifespan extended through a switch in production location to the Kecskemet plant in Hungary, allowing the Rastatt factory in Germany to build the new Mercedes CLA. 

Speaking exclusively to Auto Express, Robert Lesnik, Exterior Design Director at Mercedes, said: “The current A-Class is going to the Hungary plant next year. The plant can cater to the next-generation of A-Class.” Lesnik also said there wouldn’t need to be a significant revision to the production line to meet the criteria of the new MMA platform. 

Using the latest CLA as an example, Lesnik explained: “With CLA we had an EV then hybrid, but A-Class is three years away. MMA platform is flexible, which is great because in the future we’ll have to change our minds faster than we do now.”

Back in 2023, Mercedes laid out a plan for the four compact models that would use MMA - the CLA and CLA Shooting Brake plus the GLA and GLB SUVs. Lesnik said that while the original plan was for four models, the electric A-Class “would be the fifth”. An all-electric hatchback in the shape of the current A-Class would give Mercedes a suitable rival to the likes of the upcoming Audi A3 e-tron. 

Unlike the Audi, which is set for a cab-forward design reminiscent of the A2, the A-Class won’t revert back to the cleverly packaged, upright shape that defined the original A-Class in late 1990s. “The next A-Class should have a more stylish cab-back body rather than cab-forward”, said Lesnik. As a result the electric A-Class won’t take on the streamlined and rather controversial shape of the EQE and EQS electric saloons, sharing the CLA’s longer bonnet and more traditional profile instead.

As for the underpinnings of the next-generation A-Class, the MMA platform gives Mercedes the freedom not only to fit the same all-electric powertrain as the CLA uses, but the CLA’s hybrid unit too. This hybrid system has been developed to suit the stricter Euro 7 emissions standards due to come into force in 2027. 

The 'A-Class' name is likely to continue with the electric version too. Mercedes has back-tracked from the 'EQ' nomenclature that gave us the EQE and EQS by introducing the likes of the 'Electric CLA' and 'Electric GLC'.

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