New Mercedes A-Class SALOON debuts in Beijing as the A-Class L

The new Mercedes A-Class Saloon has debuted at the Beijing Motor Show in long wheelbase guise, ahead of an arrival in the UK in standard wheelbase. 

Saloon cars may not be flavour of the month, but that hasn’t stopped Mercedes creating a saloon car from the new A-Class hatchback, and it’s been revealed at the Beijing Motor Show in long wheelbase guise, although Europe will get a standard wheelbase version when the A-Class saloon arrives here in 2019.

Looking, unsurprisingly, just the same as the A-Class Hatch from the C-Pillars forward, the A-Class Saloon gets a stubby boot on the back to deliver a fairly classic-looking modern compact saloon, and although it’s clearly designed for the Chinese market – especially in long wheelbase guise – it will pose a challenge to Audi’s A3 saloon in the UK and Europe.

Inside it’s pure A-Class Hatch, with Mercedes new MBUX infotainment and digital screens plonked atop the dash and the familiar trio of ‘turbine’ air vents sat in the middle.

When the A-Class saloon arrives in the UK, expect it to come with a very similar range of engine options to the new A-Class and, in time, it seems likely Mercedes will also deliver both a warm AMG version in the A35 AMG and a properly swift version in the A45 Saloon.

There’s no price indication yet from Mercedes on UK pricing for the A-Class saloon in the UK, but when it does arrive, probably in early 2019, expect a few grand premium over the Hatch.