The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class is scheduled to be launched sometime this year. Recently, its maker released a video of the car during its winter testing.

According to the description of Mercedes-Benz in its official YouTube channel, it took them more than four years to develop the upcoming A-Class. As of posting, the car was already about to complete its last extensive test drive in the icy regions of Sweden.

The video also shows the testing of the A-Class in a climate tunnel. The facility is used to evaluate how the car, particularly its engines, will respond to the harsh cold to the point that its radiator grille is already coated in ice.

As an added trivia, Mercedes mentioned in the caption that the A-Class was rolled out 20 years ago. The A-Class was the first successful compact car of the company that time. So far, Mercedes sold 5,555,555 compact cars to customers worldwide from March 1997 up to the time of the video’s posting. The Mercedes-Benz A-Class accounts three million of the deliveries to customers.

It should be noted that the A-Class shown here is the hatchback version, which will unlikely reach the U.S. market. However, those who are clamoring for the A-Class in the country will get its all-new sedan version instead.

The Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan was confirmed by Britta Seeger, head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Marketing & Sales. She said that the car will be rolled out to buyers in the U.S. by fall. The A-Class is being groomed to become Mercedes’ entry-level product in the premium car segment of the U.S. market.