Mercedes-Benz A-Class To Stick Around Into 2026

Mercedes-Benz has axed plans to retire the A-Class as soon as this year and will keep the entry-level hatchback in its line-up until at least 2026.
 

The brand’s chief executive, Ola Kallenius, says the brand will continue to build ICE models based on existing platforms well into the next decade, despite initially planning to have an all-electrified line-up by 2030. The slower-than-expected uptake in sales of its electrified models has prompted it to keep the A-Class around for longer than originally anticipated. Kallenius also noted that price parity between ICE and EV models has not yet been reached and that this has impacted demand.
 
“I don’t think anyone had ever thought that the once-in-a-century transformation of the auto industry will be a straight line,” Källenius said according to NADA. “There will be peaks and troughs.”
 
In 2021, Mercedes-Benz said it believed 50% of all its sales would come from electrified vehicles by 2025. However, it recently revised those estimates and expects electrified models to account for half of its sales by 2030.
 
The company has tweaked its Rastatt manufacturing plant in Germany to allow it to continue building the A-Class atop its current MFA compact car platform alongside the MMA architecture that will replace it and be used by the likes of the CLA, CLA Shooting Brake, GLA, and GLB. It is unclear if Mercedes is planning any updates to the A-Class to keep it fresh and modern for the coming two years.
 
The MMA platform is compatible with traditional internal combustion engines, hybrids, and battery-electric vehicles. While a next-generation A-Class model based on these underpinnings won’t be launched, future Mercedes-Benz shoppers can rest easy knowing they will still have some small and relatively affordable ICE models to choose from in the coming years.