A report in German media says two smallest Mercedes models will bow out after current generation.
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class will end production in 2025, according to a report in Germany’s Handelsblatt.
Citing information provided by internal Mercedes-Benz sources, Handelsblatt says Mercedes-Benz board members have made a decision not to replace today’s A-Class at the end of its current model cycle.
The report suggests the fourth-generation A-Class, introduced in 2018, will continue to be produced in both hatchback and sedan bodystyles up until 2025. However, successors are not planned, says the Düsseldorf-based financial and business newspaper.
Handelsblatt also reports that the closely related Mercedes-Benz B-Class MPV will cease production in 2025.
The decision to axe the A- and B-Class comes as Mercedes-Benz looks to increase its number of pure-electric models, while ramping up the number of higher-profit luxury models in its portfolio.
The German car maker is not abandoning the compact car segment completely, though. In the future, it intends to concentrate production around successor models to today’s Mercedes-Benz CLA saloon (and CLA Shooting Brake), Mercedes-Benz GLA and Mercedes-Benz GLB, according to the Handelsblatt report.
Suggestions are that the next-generation CLA sedan, CLA Shooting brake, GLA and GLB will switch from today’s MFA platform to Mercedes-Benz’s new MMA structure.
The MMA platform has been conceived to underpin both hybrid and pure-electric models, and will adopt a new MB.OS operating system, according to Mercedes-Benz’s chief technology officer, Markus Schäfer.
“The vehicles of our entry luxury MM platform will be based on the MB.OS software architecture for the first time in 2024. Instead of seven, we plan to offer four models in this segment,” he said.
Automotive Daily