rear apron trims with a diffuser look), light-alloy wheels were developed for the A-Class vehicles. The A-Class in Australia comes standard with 9 airbags. The phone module went on sale on 4th quarter 2012. Mercedes-Benz Sport products were produced for the A-Class (W176) vehicles. Marketing As part of the A-Class launch, Mercedes-Benz started the 'A Rock' concert series with British alternative rock band Placebo. The 5-concert tour took place in Paris, Rome, Zurich, Hamburg, Madrid between June and July 2012. Mercedes-Benz Japan had created a short anime titled "Next A-Class", ahead of the A-Class launch in Japan. Production Production of the A-Class began at the Mercedes-Benz Rastatt plant in 2012. Mercedes-Benz signed an agreement with the Finnish supplier Valmet Automotive to expand A-Class vehicle production, where Valmet will produce more than 100,000 units for Daimler from 2013 through 2016, the agreement was later continued to cover the rest of the production time of the third version which came to an end when production of the fourth version began in 2018. In 2017 Mercedes-Benz signed a new agreement with the Finnish supplier for the fourth version. Production of A-series BlueDirect 4-cylinder engines took place at Mercedes-Benz engine production plant in Kölleda. Pre-facelift styling Post-facelift styling Fourth generation (W177; 2018) The W177 Mercedes-Benz A-Class is the fourth and current generation of the A-Class range of subcompact executive hatchbacks. It was launched in 2018 as the successor to the W176 Mercedes-Benz A-Class and sales commenced in March 2018. It is available as a 5-door hatchback (W177 model code), 4-door sedan (V177), and a long-wheelbase sedan exclusive to China (Z177). In North America, the hatchback is available in Canada and Mexico, but in the US, only the sedan is available. The fourth generation A-Class hatchback was unveiled to media in February 2018 in Amsterdam ahead of its public debut at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show. At launch Mercedes-Benz revealed the vehicle's "predator face", which is also implemented in the C257 CLS and C118 CLA, which will not spread throughout the brand's entire range of cars. References Notes Bibliography General Workshop manuals External links Official website 2000s cars 2010s cars 2020s cars Cars introduced in 1997 Compact cars Euro NCAP small family cars Front-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Hatchbacks A-class Subcompact cars Touring cars Vehicles with CVT transmission