It’s been over ten years now. Finally, the entry level luxury car from the world-renowned luxury automobile maker will adorn the Indian roads. The first generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class was the W168. It was introduced in 1997 and the second generation model was the W169. These were launched in most of Mercedes’ worldwide markets except China, North America and India.

This entry level luxury car is finally going to be launched in India at a competitive price. It may be priced at Rs 16-20 lakh. Do you think there are going to be any buyers? Well, Mercedes is optimistic right now and feels that the car will have its own marketplace in the ever-growing Indian car market. Till date, 1.6 million units of the three or five-door hatchback have been sold worldwide and we hope all goes well for the company in India too.

The front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout of this car was quite unusual for Mercedes. The new frontal-impact absorption system in this car was the specialty. The innovative concept was called the Sandwich. If there’s an aggressive frontal impact the engine and transmission enter the passenger compartment, right? But in this car, they will just slide underneath the floor below the pedals. Isn’t that great?

The W168 had to be recalled in 1997. It flipped over during the traditional moose test of the Swedish automobile publication Teknikens Värld and thus became infamous. The car had overturned during the direction to avoid the moose. Mercedes initially denied the problem, but later suspended distribution until the problem was solved. It added electronic stability control and modified the suspension. This marked the world debut of stability control in a small car.

The car is designed according to Mercedes-Benz concept of ‘touch and feel’. A thumb’s touch on the multi-function power steering wheel can control the car. It comes with the Mercedes COMAND APS, a navigation system for directions via GPS. The Parktronic system offers signals indicating how far the car is from an obstacle. The A-class optionally includes a Light & Sight package which includes bi-xenon HID headlamps with gas-discharge bulbs, cornering lights, Headlamp Assist which automatically turns on the lights when needed, and a rain sensor that adjusts the wiper speed depending on rainfall intensity. When the car enters a tunnel or underground space, it goes into the tunnel mode, where the windows and panoramic sliding sunroof get closed.

Seven types of motors are available, and all are four-cylinders: four petrol (A150, A170, A200, A200 Turbo) and three diesel (160CDI, 180CDI, 200CDI) mated with either 5 or 6-speed manual transmission. A continuously variable transmission system called Autotronic Constantly Variable Transmission or CVT is an optional feature. However, we do not know which of these variants will garnish the Indian roads. All these engines comply with the Euro 4 emission norms though.

Mercedes has been doing real well and towards the end of last year, it saw a growth of 80 per cent. This was excluding the 157 per cent growth through the crossover SUV, GL. We see the bus market having lots in store for Mercedes. However, after the 90 per cent fall last year, Europe is still under in the recovery stage when it comes to passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Mercedes had to compensate dealers by buying back the volume on liquidity and with financial support too.

Will the A-Class survive in India? Will India appreciate the entry-level luxury hatchback? Well, it took a decade to know if the car is going to make it to the Indian roads. Let’s wait a little longer to see if it succeeds.