2012 Mercedes A Class: Photos of the iPhone on wheels

Mercedes are harnessing the power of the Smart Phone in the 2012 A Class

The 2012 Mercedes A Class will debut at Geneva, and we have the first interior photos and news of the iPhone integration.

It does look like the 2012 Mercedes A Class will be a far bigger BMW competitor than the current A Class. The Mercedes Concept A Class looked very convincing, and the spy video of the 2012 A Class with AMG body kit makes it look as though Mercedes are going to be faithful to the Concept.

Now, with the new A Class just weeks away from its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show, we get the first photos of the interior and news of how the A Class will integrate with the iPhone – a move we’re likely to see more of across the industry as car makers tap in to the power of the now ubiquitous Smart Phone to deliver functionality at lower cost.

Mercedes has developed the ‘Digital Drive Style App’ for the iPhone which allows drivers to access the iPhone functionality through a simple rotary controller on the centre armrest. The App also uses Apple’s Siri voice control so drivers can select commands, play music, send texts and anything else you can think of with simple voice input.

Owners of the new A Class will also be able to get personalised radio through AUPEO!, use the Garmin SatNav with real-time traffic info, find where they’ve left their car with automatic logging of where they’ve left the car and integration of content from social media.

This is a very sensible innovation on the new A Class and will appeal to a younger demographic than the current A Class buyer – a big plus for Mercedes as they seek to make the A Class more appealing to younger buyers. We hope Mercedes are working with Apple to ensure backward compatibility and talking to Microsoft and Google about integrating Android and Windows phones in the same way.

We have no idea how much the Digital Drive Style App – or the dozen or so new Apps Mercedes intend launching each year for this new system – will cost, but it’ll be an awful lot less than a £2k COMAND option.