√Confirmed: Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be axed

Although it is the German car giant’s top-selling compact passenger car globally, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class will not be replaced when the current model reaches the end of the road.

The Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatchback and sedan will not be replaced by a new model when the current version concludes production in the coming years.

The German car maker has confirmed reports of the demise of its most affordable model, even though the A-Class is the top-selling Mercedes-Benz ‘compact’ passenger car globally – and almost outsells its two SUV siblings combined.

And Mercedes-Benz has instead committed to another generation of a niche, slow-selling wagon that is offered almost exclusively in Europe – despite demand for wagons having been in decline across the globe for many years.

Mercedes-Benz plans to cull its compact-car range from seven models today, to four – spelling the end of the A-Class hatch and sedan, including a long-wheelbase version sold in China, plus the taller B-Class hatch.

The four remaining models will be the CLA sedan, its CLA Shooting Brake wagon relative, and the GLA and GLB SUVs.

They will be underpinned by the new Mercedes-Benz Modular Architecture (MMA), which has been designed primarily for electric cars – but can, and will accommodate traditional petrol engines for certain markets where battery-powered vehicles are less popular.

The death of the A-Class is despite 184,000 examples being sold in Europe, the US and China in 2021 – compared to only 73,000 CLA sedans and Shooting Brake wagons.

Despite buyers’ shift to SUVs, the A-Class almost outsold its SUV twins under the skin – the GLA and GLB – combined in 2021, and was 40,000 vehicles (or 17 per cent) behind in the sales race.

In Australia so far this year, Mercedes-Benz has reported 1551 A-Class hatchbacks and sedans as sold, and it is the company’s fourth best-selling model behind the GLC medium SUV, GLE large SUV and C-Class mid-size sedan.

Over the same period, Mercedes-Benz Australia has reported 1044 GLAs, 1333 GLBs, 464 EQAs (the electric version of the GLB), 380 EQBs (electric GLBs), and 796 CLA sedans as sold. Stock of various models has been disrupted in recent months as production switches to updated models.

The CLA Shooting Brake has not been sold in Australia since the first-generation CLA range was phased out in 2018, when it accounted for about 25 per cent of local CLA deliveries.

The first of the new Mercedes-Benz compact-car models – the CLA sedan – has been previewed this week by the electric Concept CLA Class show car at the Munich motor show, ahead of its launch next year.

A slippery body and new electric motor designs enable up to 750km of claimed electric driving range in battery-powered models – with frugal energy efficiency of 12kWh/100km – while high-performance electric AMG versions are planned to develop up to 400kW, with all-wheel-drive.

MORE: Electric 2025 Mercedes-Benz CLA previewed by concept

While Mercedes-Benz is preparing to axe the A-Class, new generations of the BMW 1 Series hatch and 2 Series Gran Coupe sedan are planned for launch late next year – though they will be heavy updates of their predecessors, rather than all-new models.

Battery-electric versions – on dedicated ‘Neue Klasse’ electric-car underpinnings – are expected to follow in 2027 and 2028, according to oversea reports.

Meanwhile Audi has committed to another generation of the A3, though it is expected to be electric when it arrives in 2028.

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