Mercedes-Benz Unveils Its New Offering In The Hot-Hatch Segment

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German auto-giant Mercedes-Benz has revealed its latest offering in the AMG arena ahead of the Paris Motor Show. The hot-hatch christened as the A 35, will go on sale in October and is expected to be priced around 36,000 pounds in the UK.

Mercedes’ new offering in the high-performance hatchback segment will lock horns with Audi S3 and VW Golf R and will be more accessible pertaining to performance and price. A new hatchback with higher output is also expected to be launched by next year named as A 45.

Living up to its AMG features, the new A35 sports a fixed rear wing and sits on a set of 18-inch alloy wheels with slightly widened arches and new front and rear bumpers along with large air inlets and black winglets.

Under the hood, the new A35 carries the company’s latest 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine mated to Mercedes’ SpeedShift seven-speed dual clutch gearbox which produces 302bhp of power and 400Nm of torque. The standard variant will be offered with a 4MATIC all-wheel drive powertrain.

The hatchback comes with a palette of notable features such as five driving modes including Slippery, Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and Individual. The new ‘Slippery’ mode enables the car with lower engine power and early upshifts to maintain its traction. Meanwhile, the sport and the sport+ provides the driver with a punchy engine output and aggressive responses.

Apart from that, the A35 features a new AMG Dynamics Programme that makes use of the brakes on the on the inside of the rear axle to increase agility during corners. Suspension set up on the new A35 consists of a MacPherson strut and aluminium wishbone on the front axle, while the four-link setup is found on the rear. Additionally, the buyers are also provided with an optional adaptive damping system, which amps up three different suspension modes.

The cockpit of the car sports similar in appearance and features as the A-Class. However, a few AMG elements such as the microfiber and man-made leather sports seats, digital AMG instrument cluster and flat-bottomed AMG steering wheel.

The upcoming hatchback sports Mercedes’ latest MBUX infotainment system, with voice or touch controls. The system also comes with a new optional AMG Track Pace functions with 80 presets of data when driving on a track.