As a few of you’ll keep in mind, Mercedes’ technique replace from 2022 included an early have a look at a CLA-like compact sedan. It is scheduled to enter manufacturing in 2024 on the Kecskemét plant in Hungary following a €1 billion funding. The teaser picture confirmed a silhouette of a swoopy four-door automotive penned by Gorden Wagener, the corporate’s chief designer. A extra substantial preview might happen later this 12 months, in accordance with CEO Ola Källenius.
When requested by Automotive Information Europe whether or not compact vehicles nonetheless have a future in Mercedes’ lineup because it strives to go much more upmarket, the highest brass stated: “The brief reply is sure. However we’ll concentrate on the fashions that we imagine are probably the most profitable on a worldwide foundation. We’d later this 12 months even tease what that future would appear like.”
The upcoming small automotive would be the first to trip on the brand new Mercedes Modular Structure (MMA), which will probably be electric-first however not electric-only by making compromises solely on the ICE facet. This CLA substitute will probably be one of many 4 members of the “Entry Luxurious” class because the three-pointed star goals to axe three of its present compact automobiles. Rumor has it the A-Class hatchback, A-Class sedan, and the B-Class minivan are going away, leaving solely the CLA, CLA Taking pictures Brake, GLA, and GLB.
This new wave of compact vehicles is predicted to come back with larger costs whereas “elevating the technological substance.” The latter half refers to a brand new MB.OS software program structure and adopting improvements from the Imaginative and prescient EQXX program. Though Mercedes stays dedicated to compact vehicles, 75 p.c of its whole future investments are reserved for bigger automobiles (from C-Class and up) since these have larger revenue margins.
Whereas the present GLA and GLB have electrical equivalents, that is not the case for the CLA. The state of affairs ought to change with the successor because the MMA platform will probably be primarily about electrical fashions. If a latest report is to be believed, Mercedes will start to progressively drop “EQ” branding from its zero-emissions fashions as early as 2024. The primary will both be an MMA-based automotive or the electrical G-Class.
As a closing observe, a brand new report states Mercedes is plotting a “child G-Class” on the identical MMA structure for a 2026 launch with combustion engines and an electrical drivetrain.
