DaimlerChrysler's management board could kill the next-generation Mercedes A Class small car this week, Automotive News reported Monday.
According to Automotive News, whose report was highlighted by Reuters on Tuesday, the fate of the new version of the A Class, due in 2004, depended on the automaker's revised small-car strategy following its acquisition of a stake in Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp, which has an expertise in such vehicles, citing senior company sources. The board was expected to weigh the vehicle's fate this week.
"This is speculation and we don't comment on speculation," DaimlerChrysler spokesman Michael Pfister was quoted as saying when questioned about the report by Reuters.
the publication added that the board could decide to move toward a strategy that focuses on the Smart car and Mitsubishi, away from the A Class or a Chrysler vehicle smaller than the Neon.
The A Class has been selling well but not making money and overlaps with other models within the group, Reuters said.
The Automotive News report added that the [DaimlerChrysler management] board is expected to approve a Smart roadster, which first appeared at the September 1999 Frankfurt auto show. The car has strong support from Chairman Jürgen Schrempp, the report said.
According to Reuters and Automotive News, Schrempp had recently said that a four-seat Smart would be produced on a Mitsubishi platform, adding that both Smart and Mitsubishi cars would be jointly produced at the NedCar factory in Born, the Netherlands. The publication expected the board to officially approve these projects at the June meeting. But the most crucial issue to be discussed will be the A-class successor, Automotive News sources said.
The four-seat Smart could be slightly bigger than the A Class, Automotive News said. The publication expected an overall length of just below 3700 millimeters -- about 100mm longer than the A-class and only 100mm shorter than A-XL, the long wheelbase A-class derivative due next spring.
The A-class also will be under pressure from the family version of the Vaneo, a light-commercial vehicle based on an extended A-class platform and due for launch in 2002, Automotive News added -- (Several Sources).
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