When Mercedes-Benz first released the 190E in 1983 it was marketed as the new “small Mercedes”. Small for a Mercedes, maybe, but still so big that it left a whole sector of the market completely untapped.
To bring the fight to this battleground the first Mercedes A-Class was released in 1997 to a background of intrigue and wonderment. Mercedes were, for the first time ever, chasing the real small car market.
