mercedes-compact-carsGerman car maker Mercedes-Benz has officially announced that the company will expand their compact model lineup to eight models in total. The confirmation was give at the reveal of the GLA facelift at the Detroit Auto Show.

The models will comprise of a four door sedan to rival the Audi A3 and a slightly bigger SUV than the GLA to go up against the BMW X1 and Audi Q3. The SUV will have both, five and seven seater versions.

The next gen compact models will be based on a modified version of the existing platform and will be called MFA2. The new platform will offer more stiffness and less, will be able to a variety of track widths and wheelbase lengths, and can house three or four cylinder engines. The new four door sedan cocept will be first shown at the Shanghai Motor Show in April, with the SUV, most likely to be called the GLB, will be shown at a later date.

“Since 2012, we have sold more than two million compact cars worldwide,” said Dieter Zetsche, boss of Mercedes. “In the USA, half of those purchasing a Mercedes compact model are customers new to our brand. And in Europe, the average age of an A-Class customer has dropped by more than 13 years compared with 2011.”

“We’re convinced that this success story will continue, which is why we intend to expand our family of compact models – from five at present to eight attractive members,” says Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Daimler.

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