2012 Mercedes A-Class First Drive Review

The weather outside is still compatible with long walks, so put on your favorite shoes, do also grab a coat and go for one. Do you have any park nearby? Good, then you can leave the car keys on the table and walk to the park.

You haven't done this in quite a while, have you? - going through the crazy city with no purpose at all, just walking and feeling the agitation. Of course you haven't, that would be silly, so we won't do that today. In fact, the purpose we sent you out on foot today was another one. We want you to see just how much Europeans love hatchbacks.

Take a look around you at any given times and your retina will be flooded with hatches moving in all directions: bigger ones, smaller ones, cheaper ones, more expensive ones, blue, white, red, black, there's an infinity of hatchbacks on European roads.

Now keep this feeling in mind and imagine you're Mercedes-Benz, the company that officially invented the automobile. Bring back the aforementioned thoughts - wouldn't you like to know that you're the master of this hatch-thing game?

Of course you would, which is why the German automaker has given one task to its engineers and designers: make something that would dominate the premium market.

Mercedes has been in some sort of a league of its own untill now, as far as the A-Class is concerned, but not necessarily in a good way. However, the carmaker's two attempts of achieving the aforementioned goal were not as successful as they could've been, so the Germans have now left the sandwich construction and the unusual design hat derives from it behind, finally going down the conventional hatchback road with the A-Class.

The carmaker not only dressed the new A-Class in an attire that is better received by society, but the car itself is packed with innovative solutions.

It all starts with the design, which plays everything on the eye candy card. This means that the car is a perfect expression of contemporary motoring. It might not look so good in the future, but right now it shines. If you place the new A-Class next to the also-new Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series, it will be the Merc you'll remember afterwards.

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❐ Check out the 2012 Mercedes A-Class W176 photo gallery