Mercedes-Benz A-Class joins luxury product lineup in China auto market

Together with celebrities, Mercedes-Benz executives celebrate the official launch of the A-Class yesterday in Shanghai.

MERCEDES-BENZ yesterday officially launched the newest young model, the A-Class, in Shanghai to further expand its customer base in China and ride on the growing demand for luxury compact cars.

The A160 and A180 boast a perfect combination of Mercedes-Benz's innovative technology, pioneering expertise and youthful passion - as well as their exceptional values at 238,000 yuan (US$35,843) and 278,000 yuan respectively.

With the highest standards of safety, practicality, and comfort offered by the youthful and dynamic A-Class, Mercedes-Benz aims to enable young elites to not only achieve, but also enjoy, their dreams under the three-pointed star.

"In response to increased customer demand for luxury compact vehicles, we are now excited to launch the A-Class to the Chinese market, which will make the Mercedes-Benz brand even more attainable for Chinese customers," said Klaus Maier, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd.

Mercedes-Benz introduced the A-Class in 1997, a pioneer in creating a brand-new luxury compact segment. And the A-Class has been leading the rapid development of the segment ever since. The A-Class has achieved accumulated sales of 2 million units worldwide, underlining its acceptance and popularity as the premium compact vehicle.

Now the A-Class is brought to China to cater to more young elite customers who pursue the highest quality of life.

"Mercedes-Benz has rejuvenated its brand image for the past few years, especially in China," said Bjorn Hauber, executive vice president for sales and marketing of Mercedes-Benz (China). "Mercedes-Benz is more than the S-Class. It has the high performance AMG, the very luxurious Maybach and the younger smart brand."

With the newly launched A-Class as well as B-Class and GLK, Mercedes-Benz wants to make it achievable to younger people, who can grow with Mercedes-Benz.

"These consumers can develop from A-Class, from B-Class to C-Class, E-Class and S-Class. When they grow more successful in their career, we want to be their partners. We want to enable our customers to stay with Mercedes-Benz," Hauber said.

He noticed that four or five years ago, the customer base was mainly S-Class driven. Today, the customer base is much broader in terms of age group, personal wealth and why they want to use the car.

The average age has dropped to below 40 in China, and you don't have to be an entrepreneur to dream of driving a Mercedes-Benz.

At the "Are You Ready" themed A-Class launch event in the South Pier in Pudong New Area, the three-pointed star shone brightly in Shanghai amidst a dazzling state-of-the-art multimedia event.

"Shanghai, as a modern city with a lot of activities, provides an ideal setting to launch the A-Class. It has a huge advantage in city driving because of its size and mobility in a metropolis like Shanghai," Hauber said.

As Mercedes-Benz always believed that a Mercedes-Benz must be the best vehicle in its respective segment, the luxury car maker wants to offer premium vehicles also in the A-Class.

Thanks to the customer-oriented design concept of Mercedes-Benz, the A-Class is the embodiment of sheer practicality. This spacious interior makes the vehicle flexible and large enough to meet a variety of daily needs.

"Now, with the launch of the A-Class in China, Mercedes-Benz has become the brand with the most comprehensive young product lineup in the luxury auto market," Hauber said.

Mercedes-Benz earlier introduced the Smart brand to target younger elites with its sporty and stylish models. And the Smart brand has been applauded by Chinese consumers and continued its upward flight in China in the first 10 months of this year.

Through unique marketing initiatives and governmental support towards achieving zero-emission mobility, the lifestyle-oriented smart again witnessed its best performing month ever in China since its entrance into the market.