The Mercedes-Benz A-Class is set to be produced well into 2026 in a reversal of previous plans, which would have seen the fourth-generation hatchback retired as soon as the end of 2024.
News of the move comes after Mercedes-Benz confirmed it was abandoning its electric vehicle-only stance in favour of what its CEO Ola Källenius describes as a more “flexible” model strategy, under which it will continue to produce internal combustion models based on existing platforms well into the next decade.
The firm had been preparing to make its line-up fully electric by 2030, as part of a so-called “electric first” strategy. However, Källenius has now revealed the company’s latest studies project pure-electric and petrol-electric plug-in hybrid models will likely make up just half of its global sales by then.
“I don’t think anyone had ever thought that the once-in-a-century transformation of the auto industry will be a straight line. There will be peaks and troughs,” he said.
Källenius points to the ongoing price disparity as one reason for the slower-than-expected take-up of EVs, suggesting electric vehicles will remain more expensive than their combustion equivalents for some time.
According to Mercedes-Benz’s studies, demand for electric vehicles will mainly be in the small and medium car segments.
Cost parity between electric and internal combustion engine vehicles “is many years away,” Källenius said. “You can see that in the pricing.”
In preparation for the continuation of A-Class production, Mercedes has altered its Rastatt manufacturing plant to enable it to produce cars atop the current MFA compact car platform and its electric-biased MMA successor.
The MMA platform has been conceived as a hybrid structure capable of accommodating both pure-combustion, plug-in hybrid and fully electric drivetrains. It will first be used for the third-generation CLA, the first prototype for which was completed in September last year, Autocar has learned.
