MERCEDES-BENZ A-CLASS
Autocar UK|March 29, 2023
Can a mid-life facelift for Stuttgart's plush family hatchback get it back among the UK's best-sellers and help prevent an SUV stranglehold?
JAMES DISDALE
MERCEDES-BENZ A-CLASS

TESTED 22.3.23, OXFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW PRICE £35,580

Take a look around you and it would be easy to assume the SUV has won the battle for on-road supremacy. Yet look at the sales charts and a slightly different picture emerges, with a far greater variety of cars. Sure, there are plenty of high-riders in the top 10, but they're mingling with small and large hatchbacks, from mainstream and premium brands alike.

TESTER'S NOTE 

Standard kit has been boosted across the range, with all models now getting 64-colour ambient lighting, a reversing camera and Apple CarPlay. JD

One of the more surprising showroom successes has been the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, its blend of smart styling, upmarket vibes, cutting-edge tech and the lure of that three-pointed star a combination working like catnip. Some juicy PCP finance deals did it no harm either. The entry-level Mercedes was the fourth-best-selling car in the UK in 2021, having attracted more than 30,000 buyers, ahead of such mass-market luminaries as the Volkswagen Golf and the Nissan Qashqai. Quite the result.

However, by the end of 2022, it had slipped off the chart - and the picture hasn't looked any rosier in the early months of 2023. Of course, the increased drive towards electrification hasn't helped, but it's clear that the mini-Merc's mid-life facelift hasn't come a moment too soon.

Even so, in light of the 2030 ban on new ICE car sales looming and the inevitable drain that's putting on R&D budgets, Mercedes has done a makeover, rather than making wholesale changes.

There's tech titivation (natch), some equipment enhancements, a smattering of trim tweaks and even some enriched electrification, but externally the overhaul is of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it variety.

Denne historien er fra March 29, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra March 29, 2023-utgaven av Autocar UK.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA AUTOCAR UKSe alt
The venomous nature of the Cobra
Autocar UK

The venomous nature of the Cobra

Last week, Matt Prior drove a totally new kind of AC Cobra. This is a car with one of the strongest allures of all - but also an incredibly complex and controversial history.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
SKODA KAMIQ
Autocar UK

SKODA KAMIQ

A long getting-to-know-you trip to Spain reveals all

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH
Autocar UK

THE SEVEN-YEAR TITCH

Outgoing baby Jag is plush, practical and now eminently affordable

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
'Our time has come'
Autocar UK

'Our time has come'

Honda may be late to the EV party, but a barrage of bold new battery-powered cars is on the way. JAMES ATTWOOD speaks to boss Toshihiro Mibe at its R&D base to find out what's in store

time-read
8 mins  |
October 23, 2024
Lion kings
Autocar UK

Lion kings

Plush, powerful four-door cars are an endangered species - and now Peugeot has called time on its latest, the 508 PSE. STEPHEN DOBIE compares it with its most significant ancestor, the 505 GTI

time-read
6 mins  |
October 23, 2024
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
Autocar UK

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF

Wolfsburg gives the lesser-known Golf PHEV a big-impact refresh

time-read
7 mins  |
October 23, 2024
PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS
Autocar UK

PORSCHE PANAMERA GTS

Stuttgart's latest 'bahnstormer targets driver appeal over outright punch

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO
Autocar UK

MERCEDES-AMG GT 63 PRO

Hardcore variant of V8 sports car engineered with track days in mind

time-read
3 mins  |
October 23, 2024
TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI
Autocar UK

TESLA REVEALS ROBOTAXI

Firm unveils Cybercab coupé and 20-seat Robovan in autonomy push

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024
DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP
Autocar UK

DACIA PLOTS AMBITIOUS EXPANDED EURO LINE-UP

Firm teases something different’ ahead of impending C-segment reveal

time-read
2 mins  |
October 23, 2024