[Maky]

Originally Posted by 2cents

Attachment 1081248

Seriously!! In a Merc!!

I noticed this very thing in the carbuyer video review on youtube. I was shocked! but then I noticed there also exists the automated locking buttons in front of the handle so I think it is a safety feature in case the auto lock mechanism fails as it did recently with the Honda City on the highway, where unfortunately the man perished.

[noopster]

Nice report, Parry. I like the look of this car but seriously doubt I will ever buy it at this price. The dilemma that luxury car makers have is how to rack up enough sales without compromising the brand image. For example, the A class delivers the same power as a Vento TDI or the new Polo GT TSI. But it is priced more than double these. Would you really pay 10-12L just for brand value? I wouldn't.

If the Big 3 found a way to price these entry level luxe cars at around 15L ex-showroom, I would certainly start paying more attention. But 20+ is insane. I would get a used 3 instead!

[ajayrec]

If we think as per engine specs only, then we might get a similar, bigger sedan in much less than what A class would be priced at. But even Mercedes know its not only about engine and specs. Its about that circle with beautiful 3 sticks in between!
Of course interior finish and quality exterior adds to the price but its about the brand.

I am sure, many of us (I assume) heard Mercedes since our childhood and dreamt of owning one at some point of time. And if my budget is 20L, I might listen to my heart than brain

[spyder918]

Originally Posted by parrys

High Points:

• The Mercedes A-Class will be launched in two model lines: A 180 CDI (Diesel) & A 180 Sport (Petrol).
• "7G-DCT" 7-Speed Dual-Clutch Transmission with paddle shifts.
• Diesel claims a fuel efficiency of 20 kmpl. ARAI certified.
• Safety features: bi-xenon headlamps, 7 airbags, ABS, ESP, acceleration skid control, adaptive brake lights, attention assist, hill start assist, brake assist, electric parking brake, tyre pressure loss warning.
• Dimensions: 4,292 x 1,780 x 1,433 mm (LxWxH). That's just a little shorter and wider than the average C+ segment sedan.
• Mercedes has mentioned that they have no existing plans of launching a sub-20 lakh car in India; so expect the price to go North of that.
• Mercedes-Benz will have the first mover advantage (against the BMW 1-Series and Audi A3) when they launch the A-Class by the end of this month.
• This is the 3rd generation A-Class (W176).

First Impression -
Hatch !! Looks are great, definitely an eye catcher, Brand value, Safety. Good decision by Merc to launch before its rivals step in with similar one

Second thoughts -
Merc hatch @ 20+, Why not go for the larger B-class then ? or a Beemer, or wait for the audi, confused...

Third dimension -
20+ hatch is pricey, comparatively less BHP, Automatic tranny and no MT for sport version, Why a flashy Diamond Grille for a sport version ? wait.. Seems like nice to gift my wife, instead of a car like beetle (If i'd enough money to spend and space in my garage)... I'd rather go for a full size sedan options for myself at this price range..

Beat me if I sound different, but these were my initial thoughts. This is a well defined package, nothing minus, but is costly for a hatch... as discussed by some. And surely, does not qualify for a chaffuer driven car atleast for men, can be possibly for women. Even can be a school/college car for girls who can spend. Why would any business man (merc usualy preffered as business man's chaffuer driven car) choose a hatch at this price, where he can spend double the amount easily from his pocket for a sedan class merc..

15L is a good baseline price for this hatch, with all it is offfering; but to keep up with a "brand repute" still for an entry level car for merc it would be difficult for MB to offer a below 20L price here; simply compared with the VW Beetle, Mini Cooper, Fiat 500, where all are 20+.. Hope Merc makes a smart move here, else there wont be much takers

[johnjacob]

Originally Posted by noopster

the A class delivers the same power as a Vento TDI or the new Polo GT TSI.

I don't understand why everyone is comparing the A with the Vento and Polo. The A-class is a VW Golf competitor, so much the same size as the Laura and Jetta. And as GTO mentioned earlier in the thread, those come to 20L+ on the road. The Laura and the Jetta come with slightly better engines and a boot, but the A-class has better equipment levels and the three pointed star. So I think it's fair for them to be priced equivalently.

[Bluebeem]

Originally Posted by johnjacob

I don't understand why everyone is comparing the A with the Vento and Polo. The A-class is a VW Golf competitor, so much the same size as the Laura and Jetta. And as GTO mentioned earlier in the thread, those come to 20L+ on the road. The Laura and the Jetta come with slightly better engines and a boot, but the A-class has better equipment levels and the three pointed star. So I think it's fair for them to be priced equivalently.

Haha. Honestly it's Mercedes who've put us in such a fix ! The A Class has left everybody on this thread completely confused. It's the size of an i20. Has the engine of a polo, the interior space and bootspace of a hyundai i10 and the pricing of a skoda superb.

Everybody is confused as to what is the positioning of this car and what is the actual purpose of the car ?

Needless to say, the marketing guys at mercedes have obviously done a shoddy job in positioning this car.

[jacs]

Nice review Parrys.

No doubt the A class makes so many wanna be Merc buyers make their dream turn reality. But then with a price tag nearing 20L would leave the choice to people having bigger cars in garage but city drive needs a small car. Also the engine specification might not excite a buyer with 20L budget in hand! May be my first Three pointed star would still be a pre-worshipped C220 CDI some day .

Exteriors as well as interiors are attractive. Loved the front seats, what a sporty feel it has.

[Tats07]

Originally Posted by Maky

... auto lock mechanism fails as it did recently with the Honda City on the highway...

You mean Civic. AFAIK, the recent incident reported was for Civic and not City.

http://www.team-bhp.com/news/honda-c...ire-owner-dead

[StarrySky]

I think all the comparisons based on power, hatch shape etc to sub-10L cars like the Polo TSI or i20 are meaningless. If I have a budget of 20-25L for a car, Polo TSI or i20 wouldn't even enter my mind. Similarly if my budget is sub-10L, I wouldn't even do a TD of the A-class. No one planning to buy a sub-10L car would extend his budget to 20L just because of the Merc brand value.

As already pointed out, the A-class may be an alternative for Laura/Jetta customers. Even there, it may not tempt buyers who are looking at Laura/Jetta as the only cars in the family. For some of the others, the brand value may be enough for them to ignore the low power, 0-100 timing or hatch shape of the A-class.

[jaguar.runs]

Originally Posted by 2cents

Attachment 1081248

Seriously!! In a Merc!!

Yes, in a Merc. You will see the same in most of the Merc Models, even in the S-class. These locks goes flush with the door panel once locked.

You can see the same in BMW 1,3,5 & 7 series also.

[ghostrider]

Originally Posted by Bluebeem

#1. You and I both haven't driven the A class. I think it's very immature to make such claims without knowing facts. The A 180 does 0-100kmph in approx 10.2 secs, don't see how different this performance is from the polo tsi ? Since all of us are simply relying on printed numbers right now, it would be foolish to ignore that the A class is offering very little at the heart of the car - engine.

It's not 'immature' at all, and frankly you're missing the (very obvious) point. You implied that the A-class would fail because the engine wasn't powerful enough. If your logic was correct then the old Ford Ikon 1.6 ROCAM would be the hit of the century and the Honda City Type 2 (the 'dolphin') would have been a massive sales dud. What happened, in fact was the exact opposite. The point you seem to refuse to understand is that the published bhp value of a car has very little to do with sales success.
FYI - I HAVE driven an A-class, albeit an older model (2008) but that's got nothing to do with my point.

Originally Posted by Bluebeem

#2 You're bang on about the power of the brands, and the great quality they offer. What you have very conveniently forgotten my friend, is that the A class is a hatchback! There is an enormous difference between switching from sedan to sedan and sedan to a cramped up hatch that costs equally high.

Cramped up?? Says who? Read the review, pal. It's only marginally shorter than the average C-segment sedan, and it's actually wider than most.
Also, if you're actually comparing a B-class to a Mini Cooper I really don't know where to start. All I can reiterate is that that people in the market for a self-driven 20L car like the top-end DSG Jetta or something similar will now probably seriously look at the A-class as well. I know I would. GTO said the exact same thing. Starrysky implied the same thing - the comparison between something like an A-class an a Polo is ridiculous because they are competing for different segments of the market.
If you refuse to understand this, then I really have nothing further to say.

[Bluebeem]

Originally Posted by ghostrider

It's not 'immature' at all, and frankly you're missing the (very obvious) point. You implied that the A-class would fail because the engine wasn't powerful enough. All I can reiterate is that that people in the market for a self-driven 20L car like the top-end DSG Jetta or something similar will now probably seriously look at the A-class as well. I know I would. GTO said the exact same thing. Starrysky implied the same thing - the comparison between something like an A-class an a Polo is ridiculous because they are competing for different segments of the market.

If you refuse to understand this, then I really have nothing further to say.

Let us not read into things and try to see what i "imlpied". I said the A class would fail because its an UNDERPOWERED HATCHBACK!. You seem to have again conveniently missed the "hatchback" part. anyway here's some views in this thread without meaning any disrespect. Hope this puts us on the same page.

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

As for the ex-showroom price > 20l, that's plain ridiculous. With all the supposed cost saving of the front wheel drive MFA platform, where the hell is it reflecting in the price ? A 20l starting price for a puny petrol and diesel engine that is underpowered ? This whole repositioning of A, B, C class etc seems hugely inflationary!

Originally Posted by vb-san

Space is quite a premium in all the three (A-Class, 1-series, and A3).

Originally Posted by Tats07

I agree to this one. Had this been the sedan version, then it could've been little different. We still cannot digest a 20 Lakh+ hatchback (that too with 107 BHP), though we might still go for a approx 10 Lakh OTR one such as a Polo GT TSI. People would have been definitely drawn more to this one from a Jetta or Superb for simply the badge value - had this not been a hatchback. Though the power figures could've played the spoilsport there as well.
First thing that would come to mind is 1.8 Litre engine, and power similar to VW Polo GT. They would rather buy the entry level C-class if they can afford it.

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

After looking at this car, i do feel that merc could have done a little better since 107 horses is just low for something in this segment. Also, going along the lines with all hatches, space is a premium and the boot space is being "shared" with the spare wheel.

Originally Posted by noopster

Nice report, Parry. I like the look of this car but seriously doubt I will ever buy it at this price. The dilemma that luxury car makers have is how to rack up enough sales without compromising the brand image. For example, the A class delivers the same power as a Vento TDI or the new Polo GT TSI. But it is priced more than double these. Would you really pay 10-12L just for brand value? I wouldn't.
20+ is insane. I would get a used 3 instead!

Originally Posted by spyder918

Second thoughts -
Merc hatch @ 20+, Why not go for the larger B-class then ? or a Beemer, or wait for the audi, confused...

Third dimension -
20+ hatch is pricey, comparatively less BHP, Automatic tranny and no MT for sport version, Why a flashy Diamond Grille for a sport version ? wait.. Seems like nice to gift my wife, instead of a car like beetle (If i'd enough money to spend and space in my garage)... I'd rather go for a full size sedan options for myself at this price range..

Beat me if I sound different, but these were my initial thoughts. This is a well defined package, nothing minus, but is costly for a hatch... as

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Gorgeous car on the whole, and that grille! Ooh la la. But that pricing (if it is north of 20L) will definitely kill off a lot of interest in it. How many people will shell out the dough for a 20L hatchback? Car-buyers in our nation are very value-conscious, and I'm not sure how much value there is in the A Class. If you can spend that much on a smaller car, you can (should) stretch your budget a bit more and go for a proper sedan. That's just how many will see it. Let's see how the A Class goes, should be interesting

Just some views on this very thread. So that its understood that the percentage of petrolheads expressing their doubts about the 20L++price tag, hatchback and underpower are obviously much greater than people who will go for it.

If your logic was correct then the old Ford Ikon 1.6 ROCAM would be the hit of the century and the Honda City Type 2 (the 'dolphin') would have been a massive sales dud. What happened, in fact was the exact opposite. The point you seem to refuse to understand is that the published bhp value of a car has very little to do with sales success.

As i have been repeatedly trying to tell you, the problem is that its an UNDERPOWERED HATCHBACK. But i just dont seem to be getting that across to you so i'm going to gracefully bow out of this one.

FYI - I HAVE driven an A-class, albeit an older model (2008) but that's got nothing to do with my point.

Cramped up?? Says who? Read the review, pal. It's only marginally shorter than the average C-segment sedan, and it's actually wider than most

Again, Immaturity seems to be the order of the day i guess. please check facts before posting such information. It may be misleading for a lot of potential buyers.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/...AR-giant-test/ - This review says its a driver's car but the comfort is very bad

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t-drive-review - This review says how cramped up the car is.

Actually there are many other reviews and not one has said good things about the A's comfort.

[9thsphinx]

This will strictly be a second car for one who already owns one or more of the Holy Trinity (BMW, Merc, Audi). One for the lady in the house or the over-indulgent teenager, that is.

Like GTO mentioned it will be very interesting to see how and where the A hatchback is positioned with its 20L+ pricing.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by johnjacob

I don't understand why everyone is comparing the A with the Vento and Polo. The A-class is a VW Golf competitor, so much the same size as the Laura and Jetta. And as GTO mentioned earlier in the thread, those come to 20L+ on the road.

I was comparing the engine output only. Please re-read my post. Can't speak for anyone else who may have made the same comparison.

The Laura and the Jetta come with slightly better engines and a boot, but the A-class has better equipment levels and the three pointed star. So I think it's fair for them to be priced equivalently.

Slightly better engines? The TDI engine in the Laura/Jetta delivers 140 ps!!! The Laura TSI delivers 160. How is it even a comparison?

As a car buyer I don't really feel the need be "fair" to luxury carmakers of all people

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by Bluebeem

As i have been repeatedly trying to tell you, the problem is that its an UNDERPOWERED HATCHBACK.

The same thing was said about i20 1.2 when it was launched. Look at the sheer numbers it is doing!!