Mercedes offerings mirror China's diverse tastes

Concept A Sedan gives a glimpse of the future

With Auto China 2017 kicking off strong in Shanghai on Wednesday, Mercedes-Benz is leading the pack by creating a lasting impression on China's increasingly discerning customers.

Among its featured products, the Concept A Sedan stole the spotlight with a dazzling appearance at the Shanghai Film Museum, which also will be exhibited at Shanghai auto show.

With its perfect proportions and a sensual treatment of cascading planes connected by minimalist lines, the Mercedes-Benz' Concept A Sedan's world premiere in Shanghai offered Chinese media an early glimpse of the future, showcasing the next milestone of Mercedes-Benz' design philosophy of sensual purity.

The confident and streamlined look of the Concept A Sedan is best described as a "hot and cool" design that seamlessly fuses the dynamism and balance of a coup with the compactness and practicality of a premium sedan.

The vehicle's eye-catching grille and the clean form of the body design give this car a very confident look.

The vehicle's Panamericana grille features vertical chrome vents and has been tilted toward the vehicle's front, featuring vertical chrome inserts and center star that blend in with an elongated powerdome bonnet for an exceptionally powerful front facade.

The vehicle's muscular wheel arch design emphasizes the exclusive 20-inch wheels that mobilize the Concept A.

The vehicle's streamlined features fuse seamlessly with the vehicle's tinted dark privacy windows and large, panoramic glass roof, which work together to ensure enhanced occupant privacy and exclusivity.

A new touch that underscores Mercedes-Benz' thoughts on modern urban living, the vehicle's headlamps have been coated with ultraviolet paint and are designed to glow in different colors depending on the light medium the Concept A is traveling through, for a more dynamic and futuristic effect.

Further adding to this new-age look are the minimalist planes that taper off at the rear, as well as the large, lower air inlet featuring a diamond grid structure and striking trim strip in dark chrome, which grants the vehicle a more visually dominant stance and highlights its premium appeal.

Naturally, the Concept A will also come with state-of-the-art connectivity and driving technologies, and integrate fresh and exciting ideas that take into account the emerging trends in daily life today.

The talented Mercedes-Benz designers have harnessed pioneering ideas to explore and express young customers' tastes in this fast-changing automotive market.

Although the vehicle is currently in the concept phase, it is already on the verge of becoming a full reality, with the car expected to be locally-produced in China and on the streets by the end of this decade.

The new GLA SUV provides dynamic experience

In 2016, more than 9 million SUVs were sold in China, driving 45 percent year-on-year growth, which is higher than growth seen in average passenger car sales, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In response to the Chinese market's affinity for SUVs, Mercedes-Benz will hold its market premiere of the new GLA SUV at this year's Auto China 2017 to impress audience.

As an energetic and responsive SUV, the new GLA, as a facelift model, stands out with the ample space and outstanding performance which first made it popular, with a series of promising new upgrades.

With a confident stance and athletic stride, the GLA's muscular shape is further enhanced with a newly designed radiator grill shell that grants it a more prominent front facade, while retaining the GLA's classic headlamp and tail-light outline with upgraded LED and halogen outputs.

But the new generation model doesn't just look stunning. Underneath its hood is a powerful and dynamic engine, including that of the high-performance model variants such as the Mercedes-AMG GLA 45 4MATIC.

The vehicle also boasts unrivalled safety and comfort features, such as hands-free access which enables car owners to open and close the vehicle's rear panel without using their hands or touching a thing, setting a higher bar than the overall industry.

The new GLA has also retained its rugged all-terrain drivability, with its downhill speed regulation, a system that maintains the vehicle's speed at a predetermined value for slow and steady downhill crawls, and the cross-country comfort suspension gives it a 204-millimeter ground clearance, further enhancing the vehicle's off-road performance.

This time, the car is more connected than ever before, and now features Apple carplay capabilities, allowing drivers to more conveniently and intuitively make in-car calls, send and receive information and toggle their infotainment settings.

As a product poised to impress the market, the car comes with numerous features exclusive to China, such as new body paint colors selenite grey and hyacinth red, as well as new rim design, bi-tone sport seat upholstery and USB sockets for the front row.

With China continuing on as the largest market globally for the GLA, these tailored features are aimed at meeting the needs of a younger generation looking for a compact SUV that is versatile both on and off the road.

With Chinese customers demanding auto products that are agile and compact enough for a flexible urban lifestyle, while powerful enough for out-of-town excursions, products like the face-lifted GLA are set to gain further prominence.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/19/2017 page23)