2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Prototype Officially Teased

Teasers have proven to be a very effective method to create buzz around an upcoming product, and the automobile industry is no exception to that. Silhouettes of the car or a close up shot of the headlamps are some of the most common ideas for a teaser, but Mercedes-Benz thinks otherwise. Instead of the normal drill of releasing a studio shot of the car or teasing a headlamp or taillamp, Mercedes released photos of the new 2018 A-Class being tested by none other than the company head, Dieter Zetsche himself. In fact, we even have a photo of Zetsche taking a selfie with the A-Class prototype.

Dieter Zetsche's selfie with the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class

Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and the Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, revealed the images and other details about his test drive through an elaborate article on a social media website. In fact, he considers these tests drives like an assessment test for the cars. The cars need to pass this before joining the club and be worthy of the three-pointed star. In the article, Zetsche, who called the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class 'special', even revealed that the car will be officially unveiled next year.

New Mercedes-Benz A-Class will come with major design and cosmetic changes

Mercedes says that the car has been tested by the company in "one of the world's most capable climatic wind tunnels" built near Stuttgart. The tunnel can create temperatures ranging from minus 40 to plus 60 degrees Celsius and hurricanes with wind speeds of up to 265 kmph. In fact, the tunnel can also simulate tropical rainfall and snowstorms to test the cars' capability in extreme weather conditions.

New Mercedes-Benz A-Class will be unveiled in 2018

The upcoming A-Class will be the fourth-generation model and the car has been extensively re-engineered. The car is still based on the MFA platform but comes with a substantial amount of revisions like - use of lightweight aluminium parts for weight reduction and structural rigidity. While it is too soon to comment on the design and styling of the car, visually, the new A-Class appears to have received dimensional changes as well. Specifically, the new-gen A-Class has wider tracks and a longer wheelbase than the current generation model. Globally, the new 2018 A-Class might come with a 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre petrol engine, while the diesel will be a 2.0 or 1.5-litre. Transmission duties will be handled by a nine-speed dual-clutch transmission (which will replace the current 7-speed unit), but we do hope that the six-speed manual comes our way. In India, however, Mercedes-Benz is likely to launch the new-gen A-Class only in 2019, so we'll have to wait for a while before we could get our hands on the car.