SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Mercedes to add A-Class sedan

Mercedes-Benz will bolster its small-car range significantly over the next few years, starting with its first ever A-Class sedan, which will be previewed by a concept design in China later this month.

Although he didn't confirm the car, Marco Ebler, the product manager for Mercedes-Benz's small-car family, recently revealed that a new small car will be previewed at the 2017 Shanghai motor show on April 19.

The German car company has previously released a teaser image of a new small notchback (pictured) and it's now certain an all-new A-Class will join Merc's small-car line-up, which currently includes the A-Class hatch, CLA-Class sedan and wagon, GLA-Class crossover and B-Class people-mover.

The A-Class sedan will enter production in 2018 and will be a global model, meaning it's certain to be sold in Australia.

Like the CLA, it's designed to attract buyers who find the C-Class – a vehicle which has grown significantly over the past two generations – too big and expensive. It will also draw customers from Audi's popular A3 sedan and BMW's upcoming 1 Series sedan.

However, the first A-Class sedan won't spell the end of the CLA.

According to sources close to Mercedes-Benz, the next-generation CLA sedan will deliver a dramatically different look to the current model to further differentiate it from the A-Class sedan.

Benz' new A-Class compact sedan will also usher in an innovative new interior layout, one that's expected to deliver a new take on the advanced twin-screen layout from the E-Class, to rival Audi's high-definition Virtual Cockpit set-up.

Hartmut Sinkwitz, the head of interior design Mercedes-Benz, told motoring.com.au the cabin and infotainment layout of the next A-Class will be "...in the family, but very radical and unique and innovative looking".

The current, third-generation A-Class was launched in 2012 and has evolved considerably since the van-like, tall-bodied first-generation A-Class of the 1990s. The fourth-generation hatch is expected to be another significant jump forward.

"For the customer of course it's new and beautiful and luxurious," said Sinkwitz.

The global appetite for small luxury cars has exploded over the last half decade, with more than two million of Benz's five new-generation (MFA platform-based) compact models finding homes globally.

Ebler said the range of compact vehicles from Mercedes-Benz will grow from the current five to eight, with the A-Class sedan and a possibly a long-wheelbase version specifically for China making up seven.

The eighth model could be a convertible… Watch this space.