Mercedes-Benz is rumored to be dropping its diminutive A-Class after the current model’s production run ends in 2011. The A-Class, which is in its second generation, has suffered in the media since the first generation’s 1997 introduction. Still, Mercedes-Benz has sold over 1.5 million A-Class cars.
Shortly after the first generation (W168) A-Class was introduced, a Swedish magazine caused a stir by flipping an A-Class during the “moose test.” Initially, Mercedes denied that there was a tendency for the A-Class to roll over. However, the carmaker surprised nearly everyone by recalling all of the A-Classes that had been built to retrofit Electronic Stability Control. Ever since then, the A-Class’ image has suffered.
The report of Mercedes dropping its smallest car and its first front-wheel-drive car comes from WirtschaftsWoche, a German weekly business publication. No official reason is known yet. Mercedes has not sold the A-Class in U.S. or Canadian markets, although Canada gets the larger B-Class, a model not expected to come to the United States just yet.
