Building upon the success of the third generation, which moved away from the MPV-ish body style to a compact hatch look, the next Mercedes-Benz A-Class is bound to become more interesting.

Currently in prototype form, with its body completely wrapped in vinyl stickers and fitted with plastic cladding that is meant to shift direction from any possible major visual changes on the outside, the fourth generation model is already out on the streets testing. Underneath the fresh sheet metal, the automaker is apparently using a re-engineered version of the MFA architecture, which is developed together with Renault and makes use of aluminum to keep the car’s final weight as down as it can get, thus improving its handling and fuel consumption.

At the moment, the upcoming vehicle retains its five-door hatch body style, but if the previous info turns out to be accurate, then we should expect it to add a two-door Shooting Brake along with a four-door sedan, with the latter poised to rival BMW‘s 1-Series and Audi’s A3 saloons.

Its exact unveil date remains unknown, but some say that it will be ready to show its redesigned face towards the end of next year with sales set to commence in early 2018.

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