Mercedes-Benz W168 A-Class

The Mercedes-Benz A-Class became popular in the second hand auto market because of it's reasonable price, Mercedes-Benz quality and equipment level. Now let's see some information:

History:
Launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show in the autumn of 1997, the W168 A-Class was quite unusual for Mercedes-Benz featuring a front wheel drive layout and unusual tall yet short body. One innovation of the W168 was a frontal-impact absorption system called the "Sandwich" (see patents DE4326 9 and DE4400132 in the name of Mercedes-Benz). In the event of a violent frontal impact, the engine and transmission would slide underneath the floor below the pedals rather than entering the passenger compartment.

This was the first complete exterior designed by Coventry University trained Steve Mattin, for which he was named Autocar magazine's 'Designer of the Year'. Earlier, Mattin had mostly worked on design for the W210 E-Class in 1991. Concurrent to the W168, he designed the exterior of the W220 S-Class. The final design freeze occurred in January 1995, at 32 months before August 1997 start of production.

The W168 became infamous in 1997 after flipping over during the traditional "elk test" performed by the Swedish automobile publication Teknikens Värld. According to the report, the W168 overturned when manoeuvring to avoid the "elk". Mercedes initially denied the problem, but then took the surprising step of recalling all units sold to date (2600) and suspending sales for three months until the problem was solved by adding electronic stability control and modifying the suspension. The company spent DM 2.5 billion in developing the car, with a further DM 300 million to fix it.

Between 1997 and 2004, 1.1 million first generation A-Class models had been sold.

The A-Class was facelifted in 2001, with minor alterations to the front and rear bumper design and the addition of a new 170 mm (6.7 in) longer wheelbase version. It was launched at the Geneva Motor Show.

Engines:
All A-Class models are powered by 4 cylinder engines, with 1.4 L and 1.6 L petrol models at launch (M 166 series), followed by two versions of a 1.7 L diesel engine (OM 668 series). In 1999, a larger 1.9 L petrol model was added, with the 2.1 the last W168 version to be launched in 2002.

Fuel	Model	Year	Code	Motorname	Motorcode	Displacement	Rated Power	Torque	Speed
Petrol	A 140	1997–2004	168.031	M 166 E 14	166.940	1397 cm³	82 HP @ 5000 rpm	130 NM @ 3750 rpm	170 km/h (106 mph)
	A 140 (Automatic)	2000–2004	168.031	M 166 E 16 red.	166.960 red.	1598 cm³	82 HP @ 5000 rpm	140 NM @ 2500 rpm	166 km/h (103 mph)
	A 160	1997–2004	168.033	M 166 E 16	166.960	1598 cm³	102 HP @ 5250 rpm	150 NM @ 4000 rpm	182 km/h (113 mph)
	A 190	1999–2004	168.032	M 166 E 19	166.990	1898 cm³	125 HP @ 5500 rpm	180 NM @ 4000 rpm	198 km/h (123 mph)
	A 210 Evolution	2002–2004	168.035	M 166 E 21	166.995	2084 cm³	140 HP @ 5500 rpm	205 NM @ 4000 rpm	203 km/h (126 mph)
Diesel	A 160 CDI	1998–2001	168.007	OM 668 DE 17 A red.	668.941	1689 cm³	60 HP @ 3600 rpm	160 NM @ 1500–2400 rpm	158 km/h (98 mph)
	A 160 CDI (Modellpflege)	2001–2004	168.006	OM 668 DE 17 LA red.	668.940 red.	1689 cm³	75 HP @ 3600 rpm	160 NM @ 1500–2800 rpm	163 km/h (101 mph)
	A 170 CDI	1998–2001	168.008	OM 668 DE 17 LA	668.940	1689 cm³	90 HP @ 4200 rpm	180 NM @ 1600–3200 rpm	175 km/h (109 mph)
	A 170 CDI (Modellpflege)	2001–2004	168.009	OM 668 DE 17 LA	668.942	1689 cm³	95 HP @ 4200 rpm	180 NM @ 1600–3600 rpm	182 km/h (113 mph)

Production:
DaimlerChrysler invested EUR 900 million in developing the Rastatt plant where the A-Class is produced, and created 1600 new jobs (for a total of 4700). A further 600 people work in the office building at the plant site.

Mercedes-Benz began W168 production on 17 February 1999 at its new Brazilian facility in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais. The Brazilian plant was the company's first factory in South America dedicated to passenger cars, with an investment of USD 840 million and 10000 employees. The factory initially produced A-Class and C-Class models, assembling them from pieces manufactured in Germany. The target for the cars was regional markets (from Argentina to Mexico) with modifications made to the cars to suit local conditions, like a protection for the motor base. On 15 August 2005 the factory stopped production of A-Class cars.

Pre-facelift 1997-2001

Facelift 2001-2004

Well equipped models feature: 2 stage heated seats in the front, ASR (Traction Control), A/C, parking sensors, electric mirrors and windows, 4x airbags + ABS and power steering comes as standard in all models

And here is a video for those who are afraid to buy a car like this because it's "unsafe":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmxPc8Duzjc