The streamlining of Mercedes-Benz cars continues as the brand sets its sights toward the full enforcement of its new business plan. The new casualties this time are the A-Class and B-Class models.
As a recap, the business plan unveiled by Mercedes last May involves a completely revised product portfolio that will restructure its entry-level range from seven down to four. While the axing of the B-Class no longer comes as a surprise since minivans are no longer as popular as before, the inclusion of the A-Class in the cuts is totally unexpected since the hatchback is a beloved series and one of the favorites of tuners.
If the sales figures of the A-Class are to be considered, however, things would start to make more sense. From 2021, Mercedes only sold 8,108 A-Class cars in the US. That’s down by 47% from 2020, which saw sales of the vehicle reach 11,732 sales. Going back one more year would reveal that the 2019 to 2020 sales of the car was only 17,641 units. That’s definitely a bad trend going forward.
The report came from the German newspaper Handelsblatt citing an unnamed source within Mercedes. It said that the final nail in the coffin has been set for the A-Class as board members within the group have decided against a successor to the hatch.
Fans of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class have until 2025 before they say goodbye to it though since Mercedes still wants to complete the production cycle of the hatch’s present generation model. With that, we will still get to see its mid-cycle updates due this year.