Mercedes Benz has decided to replace the CLA with the A-Class Limousine in favor of practicality and the latter will be debuting in India at the 2020 Auto Expo.
Mercedes Benz had previously said that they would be bringing the new-generation GLA SUV and CLA four-door coupe to India in 2020. However, Mercedes-Benz India have discontinued the first-gen CLA now and neither are they going to bring the second-gen CLA to India anymore. Instead, Mercedes Benz will replace the CLA in India with the new A-Class Limousine.
Mercedes has clarified that it did confirm there would be a new-generation of its entry-level sedan coming this year. That however happens to be the A-Class sedan and not the CLA. The reason for this is quite simple. In the luxury car segment in India, the back seat is still hugely important as these cars still tend to be largely chauffeur driven. The CLA was not particularly roomy in its second row – because of its steeply raked roofline – and while the second-gen CLA was larger than its predecessor, it still did not have plenty of space in the second row. Mercedes thus thought it would be a good idea to solve that problem with the A-Class sedan which is certainly more spacious.
In terms of design, the CLA with its sloping roofline was certainly as close as a four-door car could be to a coupe. However, keeping in mind the similarities between the A-class sedan and the CLA, Mercedes thought it would be wiser to bring the more practical A-Class sedan to India instead of the second-gen CLA.
There’s another interesting point to note here. Mercedes will be calling the A-Class sedan as the A-Class Limousine here in India. The reason for particularly using the word ‘Limousine’ is to create a clear distinction in the mind of the customers as an ordinary Indian buyer would naturally tend to associate the A-Class name with the hatchback. Internationally, the A-Class is available both as a hatchback and as a sedan but the latter was never offered here in India.
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Both, the second-gen GLA and the A-class sedan are based on the next-gen MFA platform. This will see both the vehicles sharing a lot of parts including their petrol and diesel engines, interior bits like the steering wheels and other panels and also the MBUX infotainment system. Both the cars will arrive in India as CKD units but sharing of parts will help the cars achieve a fairly decent price point as economies of scale will come into play. You can expect the Mercedes Benz A-Class Limousine to be priced around the Rs. 32-40 lakhs mark.
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The Mercedes Benz A Class Limousine will be debuted in India at the 2020 Auto Expo. Other than these two cars, Mercedes has many more exciting launches lined up ahead in year and that includes next-gen GLE on January 28, the all-electric EQC in April, the new GLE Coupe, all-new GLS and the AMG GT 4-Door Coupe, which will be launched at Auto Expo 2020.
