The new Mercedes-Benz A-Class hatchback might be barely a week old, but already it has been reimagined in coupe, convertible and AMG guises.
The upmarket small car, which is due to reach Australian showrooms from the third quarter of this year, has been rendered thanks to the handiwork of
.The AMG spin-off, which is set to comprise both A 45 and new A 35 4MATIC variants, features more aggressive styling, a lower stance, larger air intakes and beefier componentry.
The fettled drivetrain is expected to enable a 0-100km/h time of just four seconds, and will be accompanied by a new nine-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and a faster reacting all-wheel drive system with that offers “greater variability in the drive split between the front and rear wheels”.
Much of that design pedigree is injected into both the first two-door A-Class coupe and cabriolet in Ascarissdesign’s renders. The production version of the new CLA sedan, meantime, is expected to share strong parallels with the A-Class Concept shown by Mercedes-Benz at last year’s Shanghai motor show.
Mercedes-Benz has not yet confirmed whether a cabriolet version of the A-Class is in the pipeline.
The second (after the B-Class) of a claimed eight new small Mercedes-Benz models to share the upgraded MFA2 architecture, the A-Class will eventually be joined by the CLA, the CLA Shooting Brake, the GLA crossover, the GLB off-roader and a sporty version of the A-Class.