Heading Towards Ten Years
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class was supposed to be phased out this year, but it’s sticking around for a bit longer. In fact, the extra time it’s getting is much longer than previously assumed.
The current Mercedes-Benz A-Class came onto the market seven years ago, and its end has been hanging over it like the Sword of Damocles since 2022. At that time, we heard that 2025 would be the end for the A-Class. As you may know, the A-Class is still available to order new. In fact, early last year, a rumor surfaced that the A-Class would not be discontinued until 2026. That also turns out not to be true. It gets to continue even longer.
The German Automobilwoche has heard from insiders that the A-Class’s deadline is now in 2028. By that time, the 1-series and A3 competitor will have been on the market for ten years. The fact that it can stay so much longer has to do with the same thing as why it previously seemed to have to leave the field: the focus on more electric offerings. Mercedes-Benz is also hedging its bets in that area by continuing with fuel models for a little longer. That seems to be the lifeline for the A-Class, which was also under pressure due to the relatively low margins that Mercedes-Benz makes on it.
The Mercedes-Benz A-Class no longer sells as well in the Netherlands as it used to, but with around 1,500 cars per year, it is still doing quite well. The peak was in 2019, when the current A-Class had just hit the market. At that time, 4,264 units were sold in our country. Only the original A-Class, that small MPV-like car where it all began, ever managed to reach slightly more on an annual basis: 4,327 units.