The current Mercedes-Benz A-Class has been a huge success for the German luxury automaker, and the new-generation of the luxury hatchback met with almost universal approval when it was unveiled recently at the Geneva Motor Show.
A number of markets will be at least equally as interested in the saloon version that's also going to be available this time around, and we now have an idea of what it's going to look like after a long-wheelbase version was unveiled at the start of the Beijing Motor Show.
Chinese-buyers love their long-wheelbase cars and a lot of manufacturers are now catering to that preference with cars they sell globally that are produced in stretched forms, purely for China. This new Mercedes is officially being called the A-Class L, and the version will not be made available in any other markets and will also be built in China.
This A-Class L has a boot instead of a hatchback, and its wheelbase is 2.4-inches longer than the model the rest of the world will get, offering Chinese consumers two things they really, really like in car: a saloon body style and plenty of room in the rear seats.
These Chinese-only variants will only be fitted with petrol engines and they'll all utilise a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The engine options will be 99 and 118 horsepower versions of a 1.3-litre four-cylinder and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder that will produce 138 horsepower. If they sound like pretty modest powerplants that's because they are, and the smart money suggests none of them will be offered in the A-Class sedans that will eventually go on sale in North America and elsewhere.
Mercedes is adamant that this long-wheelbase variant won't venture outside of China, but it does give the world a very good idea of what the new 2019 A-Class saloon will look like. Basically, the global version will have a boot instead of a hatch and slightly smaller rear doors -- a lot like the current CLA.
