奔驰最近正在开发新一代A级车，该车将于2018年发布。与现行版相比，新一代A级车的车身尺寸进一步增加，轴距更长，轮距更宽。如果有人担心进一步增加的车身尺寸会增加车重，这种担心大可不必，因为新车采用了奔驰的MFA2平台。该平台采用了更多铝制材料，因此车重进一步降低，同时坚固性进一步提升。新车不仅比现行版更轻，而且燃油经济性和性能也将获得提升。由于车身尺寸增加，新车内部空间更宽敞，尤其是后排空间和行李箱容积更充裕。这次拍到的新车，车身进行了重度伪装。不过，该车并非最终量产版，因此车身很多部件都是临时装上去的。前大灯和尾灯组，甚至车身面板都将与量产版不同。谍照记者注意到，这辆车的后门略微加长，侧后视镜设置在车门上，而非A柱上，这一点与现行版不同。

2018 Mercedes A-Class seems wider, longer than current model

It was a little over a year ago when Mercedes facelifted its supermini and as you can see work is already well underway on the next-gen A-Class which is expected to come out in 2018. Compared to the car you see on the roads today, the new one will grow in size judging by the elongated wheelbase of this camouflaged prototype which also appears to have slightly wider track.

If you are worried the increased footprint will make the next A-Class heavier, that won’t be the case since Mercedes’ entry-level model will be the first to ride on the MFA2 platform. It will be an evolution of the current architecture and is going to use more aluminum, thus shaving weight and improving rigidity. The car could actually end up lighter than the current model and this will obviously pay dividends in terms of efficiency and performance.

As a result of the increased size, the 2018 A-Class will have a more accommodating cabin with more room in the back and is going to feature a larger trunk. The disguise applied on this prototype spotted in southern Europe hides the car’s design and chances are the vehicle does not even have all the production bits. The headlights and taillights are certainly not final and maybe some of the body panels are provisional. That being said, we do notice the rear doors are slightly longer and the side mirrors are now sitting on the doors rather than at the base of the A-pillars as it’s the case with the current model.