The Mercedes A Class has existed almost in a segment of one since the creation of the first generation car in the late-90s. Unfortunately that car was blighted by the bad publicity of flipping right over during the infamous Swedish elk test and it took a long time to recover.
Its ice-cream sandwich packaging was a revelation, however, with both generations of the A Class proving to have more space even than far bigger cars. Various bits of the engine and oily bits are neatly packaged underneath the floor of the cabin, which is completely flat.
That interior packaging really is the A Class's strong suit - it will easily accommodate four tall adults despite not being much bigger than your average supermini. The rear seats have the standard 60/40 split folding feature, but can also be removed to create an impressive load space.
On the other hand, one of the big downsides with having a premium small car is the fact that you're often being asked to pay a lot for something you could get significantly cheaper elsewhere. That Mercedes badge doesn't come cheap, and if you're not worried about the badge you could get much better value.
The base spec of the A Class is remarkably stingy - go for something like a Hyundai and whilst you won't have the same cachet you will have a lot more kit thrown in as standard. All that said, the A Class is still a Mercedes.
The car's handling isn't particularly impressive, and neither is the ride, getting a little hard and fidgety on the go. The A Class is a respectable motorway cruiser however. It suffers from its tall stance, not being as lithe and darty as something lower, like Audi's A3 or BMW's 1 Series.
There is a good range of engines to choose from - four petrols and three diesels. The higher you go up that range the prices start to go beyond what we would consider acceptable money for what you're getting. On top of that, the more powerful diesels can sound loud and unrefined. Our pick of the motors is the entry-level 1.5-litre petrol in the A160.
The A Class isn't fabulous to drive, but it what it does do is offer impressively high levels of practicality.