Mercedes could replace A and B-Class with new family of compacts

Mercedes-Benz is expected to halt production of the current A-Class and B-Class after the current cycle and replace the two aging models with a new family of small vehicles ranging from cabrios to sports coupes. German newspaper Frankfurt Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reports that executive board members of the company have stated Mercedes is "working on a complete new concept for the successor for the A- and B-Class models".

This replacement entails a whole new family of models consisting of four distinct variations - including a cabriolet, a coupe, a people mover and a soft-roader. Rumors from last year claimed that Mercedes could drop the A-Class and B-Class by 2011. With the axing of the brand's two smallest model lines, it is uncertain what platform the new variants will be built upon, although there has been speculation that the four variants could sit on the recently developed C-Class architecture. This would mean rather than using the A- and B-Class' cumbersome FWD architecture, the new variants could take advantage of the C-Class platform's RWD.

A rear-drive platform also opens up the possibilities for more powerful engines to be put into the cars, although such a development will leave one section of Mercedes' range understaffed and another section overpopulated. Mercedes' may offer the A- and B-Class replacements as entry-level Mercedes-Benz models without the utilitarian appearance of the modestly successful A- and B-Class.

Moving the cars slightly upscale would fall in line with the company's stated desire to make the next small cars 'sportier.' A reworked platform offering a lower stance thanks to the removal of the 'sandwich' design of the current models, the possibility of rear-wheel drive and a range of more powerful engines available would put the cars well into sporting territory for their respective classes, along the lines of BMW's 1-series and Audi's A3. The downside of such a transition would be increased cost, a fact Mercedes' U.S. chief Ernst Lieb pointed out last year when discussing the future of the B-Class.

With the B-Class being considered for U.S. sale, likely more than ever now that fuel prices are climbing and CAFE standards are growing ever tighter, moving up-scale could be a good thing. It might help entice American buyers that want the fuel-saving benefits of a small car but don't necessarily want to drive a stripped-down economy car every day.

Previous reports had Mercedes moving forward with a redesign of the A- and B-Class cars that still relied on a front-wheel drive architecture, the MFA platform. Those reports also had the company building four body styles, including a soft-roader, a standard hatch, a sports hatch and a four-door coupe, however, so the latest talk of moving to an entirely new platform with possible rear-drive may be an evolution of the earlier thought process.