Mercedes lifts prices on revamped A-Class

MERCEDES-BENZ Australia has strategically priced its revised, more powerful A-Class flagship, the Mercedes-AMG A45, at $77,900 – exactly $1000 cheaper than rival Audi’s new RS3 Sportback.

Although that A45 price is $2100 more than before, the A45 buyer also gets a healthy 15kW/25Nm power and torque boost, taking peak output to 280kW and 475Nm, and thus wresting back bragging rights from the 270kW/465Nm RS3.

Pricing specifications for the Australian-spec A45 were announced today, along with those for the remainder of the facelifted A-Class range that is due to appear in local showrooms in January.

Price hikes of between $1000 and $2300 have been dished out across the line-up, although buyers get more goodies in return.

The new-look A-Class range now starts with the A180 at $37,200, plus on-road costs – a rise of $1300.

The popular A200 goes up $1000 to $42,800 for the petrol version and $43,300 for the CDI diesel.

The upmarket A250 Sport 4Matic cops the biggest rise – $2300 – taking its price to $53,300.

Launched in Europe at the Frankfurt motor show in September, the A-Class’ mid-life facelift delivers subtle styling changes around the nose and tail, including Mercedes’ diamond-cut grille treatment and new LED high-performance headlamps.

For the first time, all models get Mercedes’ Dynamic Select driving system that adjusts engine, transmission, suspension, steering and air-conditioning according to four modes – Comfort, Sport, Eco and Individual.

The system includes adaptive dampers, allowing drivers to choose between a number of settings, including comfort and sport.

The A45 gets AMG’s version of Dynamic Select which includes an extra setting – race mode.

It also features a Dynamic Plus system to further sharpen dynamics. This includes a locking front differential that aids fast acceleration out of bends.

Among the standard features on the A45 are 19-inch alloy wheels, AMG heated sports seats, sporty exhaust, sat-nav and adaptive cruise control.

Now with 280kW of power and 475Nm of torque, the A45 is said to be capable of dashing from zero to 100km/h in 4.2 seconds – 0.2 seconds faster than the current model.

Part of this acceleration improvement is owed to revised gear ratios in the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The second most powerful member of the A-Class line up, the A250 Sport, also gets a performance increase, gaining 5kW of power, to 160kW.

Power and torque outputs for other models are unchanged. These start with the 1.6-litre A180 at 90kW and 200Nm, the 1.6-litre A200 at 115kW and 250Nm and 1.8-litre diesel A200 CDI at 100kW and 300Nm.

Safety systems include drowsiness detection, nine airbags, pre-safe collision preparation, blind spot detection, lane keeping, autonomous braking and an active bonnet.

Even though the A-Class is the most affordable vehicle in the Mercedes range, it becomes the first member of the three-pointed star line-up to get Apple CarPlay. There is no mention of Android Auto.

2016 Mercedes-Benz A-Class pricing*

A180 (a)	$37,200
A200 (a)	$42,800
A200d (a)	$43,300
A250 Sport 4MATIC (a)	$53,300
Mercedes-AMG A45 (a)	$77,900

*Excludes on-road costs