New Mercedes-Benz A-Class limousine arrives in Malaysia with MBUX infotainment system
The posh looking Mercedes-Benz A-class sedan is now available in Malaysia for discerning buyers in your choice of two different variants which are the A200 Progressive Line and the better specced A 250 AMG Line,replete with all the lush accoutrements and technologies expected of a car from the marque though the most novel feature is the inclusion of their Mercedes-Benz User Interface (MBUX) virtual assistant that answers to the voice call ‘Hey Mercedes’.
Common to the new A-class limousines, the MBUX interface has natural speech recognition and works somewhat like Siri or Google Assistant with a rather posh female voice that speaks with a received pronunciation to manipulate car settings and features like the lighting, the radio and air conditioning along with navigation. MBUX is also able to learn and adopt personalised profiles over time and pairs up with your phone for cloud-based answers to address more complicated questions like the usual trivia and sassy comebacks.
This is paired with a free-standing 10.25-inch display that allows for GPS map navigation and getting about the various menus via a traditional touchscreen in lieu of using your voice so you’re able to get about the way you want. This approach to customisability also extends to how you want to see the various gauges and you can customise what gauges you want to see on the display along with three predefined modes – Modern Classic, Sport and Understated.
Aside from MBUX, both models externally sport what Mercedes-Benz calls a progressive cutting edge design with a dynamic, shark-nose looking front, diamond grills with tapered LED High Performance headlights,18-inch alloy wheels, twin exhausts and a distinctive looking rear that harkens to its limousine heritage.
The A200 Progressive gets a 1.33L four-cylinder turbo engine paired with a seven-speed wet dual clutch transmission capable of hitting 163hp@5,500RPM and 250Nm of torque from 1,620 to 4,000rpm as well as the ability to go from zero to 100km/h in just 8.1 seconds to achieve a top speed of 230km/h.
The A250 AMG gets a slightly beefier M260 2.0l engine capable of kicking out 224hp@5,500rpm and achieving 350Nm torque between 1,800 to 4,000rpm and the ability to get a top speed of 250 km/h along with the ability to hit go from zero to 100km/h in 6.3 seconds.
For Malaysia, the A 200 Progressive Line retails for RM229,888 while the A250 AMG Line retails for RM267,888. For more details swing by www.mercedes-benz.com.my
