The Mercedes A-Class Will Die Next Year

Mercedes-Benz is planning a big model push over the next few years, but one car that won’t be part of that is the Mercedes A-Class. The company has confirmed that its smallest model won’t survive beyond 2026, bringing to an end a lifespan of just under 30 years.

The news was confirmed to Italian publication Quattroruote by Mercedes chief technical officer Markus Schäfer, who explained that, despite the ongoing popularity of hatchbacks in Europe, Mercedes needs to concentrate on models with broad global appeal, including key markets like the USA and China.

As a result, the A-Class will die at the end of its fourth generation’s lifespan next year, and the entry-level Merc will become the newly revealed third-generation CLA.

The original A-Class, launched in 1997, marked a push towards the mass market for Merc, which had firmly been a premium player before that. The original car was a curious and experimental thing, built on an innovative flat floor that gave it rear legroom far beyond most other compact cars. It was, however, somewhat held back in the market by its unusual styling, and is best remembered these days for infamously toppling over during the Swedish car industry ‘elk test’.

The second iteration, launched in 2004, was largely an evolution of the first in its styling and positioning, and therefore still struggled sales-wise, so Mercedes took a different approach with 2012’s third-gen car. It essentially became a normal Golf-sized hatch with a posher interior, along the same lines as the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.

It was here that the full-fat AMG versions began arriving, too, with the original A45 AMG packing a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder with 355bhp. Today’s A45 S is still the top of the petrol hot hatch tree, with that same engine somehow kicking out 416bhp without the aid of any electrification, or the risk of it exterminating itself in a cloud of steam.

After 2026, though, it’ll be yet another of the ranks of hot hatches that have bitten the dust in the last few years. It’s probably not the end of the road for small, fast Mercs – we’d expect AMG versions of the new CLA to arrive before too long. If you want an AMG hatch, though, time is running out.