Well, by now everyone knows that the Shanghai Auto Show was held, but what you, maybe, do not know is that Mercedes used it to present their Concept A just last week. With this vehicle, Mercedes-Benz is officially opening a new chapter for their compact car lineup, and as far as we can see it, it will look amazing. The Concept A looks very much different than the small A-Class, B-Class and CLA models from the automaker’s lineup we all grew familiar with, but that is not exactly bad news.
But there must be something confusing here because you are looking at the pictures of a convertible, while the fact is that Mercedes unveiled the Concept A sedan at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show. The truth is that these are renderings that come from Russian graphic designer Aksyonov Nikita who actually took all the lines and design cues from the sedan and offered us a glimpse at what the convertible might look like. When I said he took all the lines and design cues, I mean just that. This is exactly the same Concept A like the one previewed in Shanghai just without the roof.
As you can see Nikita kept the drastically changed front end, that does not look like anything seen on the existing A-Class or CLA models, which now includes the company’s trademark Panamerican front grille. It also has the same new triangular-shaped headlights with an intriguing inner design as well as the gaping wide lower air intake with prominent black outer components as the Concept A sedan has.
Nikita kept the overall look of the original vehicle very nicely, especially when dimensions are considered and those small bits and pieces like slimline wing mirrors, door handles that sit flush with the body and the rear quarter panels which are still there and still slightly resemble those of the current CLA. As you can see from the pictures here, he put his focus on the front of the vehicle, so the exact vision of his for the back end is lacking, but we will leave that gap to the German automaker to fill in.
If there are skeptics out there let me assure you that this is not just another artist’s vision, this just might be turned into reality because lately we have been witnesses to numerous reports stating that Mercedes is actually contemplating the expansion of the next A-Class with a cabriolet. If that really happens, it will challenge the open-top versions of the Audi A3 and BMW 2 Series and will do that with the same platform as its fixed-roof sibling. The same underpinnings also mean identical engine lineup, but that is also OK. An AMG A45 variant isn’t out of the question as well, and we just can’t wait to see it.
