MERCEDES-BENZ yesterday officially launched the newest young model, the A-Class, in Shanghai to further expand its customer base in China and ride on the growing demand for luxury compact cars.

The A160 and A180 boast a perfect combination of Mercedes-Benz's innovative technology, pioneering expertise and youthful passion - as well as their exceptional values at 238,000 yuan (US$35,843) and 278,000 yuan respectively.

With the highest standards of safety, practicality, and comfort offered by the youthful and dynamic A-Class, Mercedes-Benz aims to enable young elites to not only achieve, but also enjoy, their dreams under the three-pointed star.

"In response to increased customer demand for luxury compact vehicles, we are now excited to launch the A-Class to the Chinese market, which will make the Mercedes-Benz brand even more attainable for Chinese customers," said Klaus Maier, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd.

Mercedes-Benz introduced the A-Class in 1997, a pioneer in creating a brand-new luxury compact segment. And the A-Class has been leading the rapid development of the segment ever since. The A-Class has achieved accumulated sales of 2 million units worldwide, underlining its acceptance and popularity as the premium compact vehicle.

Now the A-Class is brought to China to cater to more young elite customers who pursue the highest quality of life.

"Mercedes-Benz has rejuvenated its brand image for the past few years, especially in China," said Bjorn Hauber, executive vice president for sales and marketing of Mercedes-Benz (China). "Mercedes-Benz is more than the S-Class. It has the high performance AMG, the very luxurious Maybach and the younger smart brand."

With the newly launched A-Class as well as B-Class and GLK, Mercedes-Benz wants to make it achievable to younger people, who can grow with Mercedes-Benz.

"These consumers can develop from A-Class, from B-Class to C-Class, E-Class and S-Class. When they grow more successful in their career, we want to be their partners. We want to enable our customers to stay with Mercedes-Benz," Hauber said.

He noticed that four or five years ago, the customer base was mainly S-Class driven. Today, the customer base is much broader in terms of age group, personal wealth and why they want to use the car.

The average age has dropped to below 40 in China, and you don't have to be an entrepreneur to dream of driving a Mercedes-Benz.

At the "Are You Ready" themed A-Class launch event in the South Pier in Pudong New Area, the three-pointed star shone brightly in Shanghai amidst a dazzling state-of-the-art multimedia event.

"Shanghai, as a modern city with a lot of activities, provides an ideal setting to launch the A-Class. It has a huge advantage in city driving because of its size and mobility in a metropolis like Shanghai," Hauber said.

As Mercedes-Benz always believed that a Mercedes-Benz must be the best vehicle in its respective segment, the luxury car maker wants to offer premium vehicles also in the A-Class.

Thanks to the customer-oriented design concept of Mercedes-Benz, the A-Class is the embodiment of sheer practicality. This spacious interior makes the vehicle flexible and large enough to meet a variety of daily needs.

"Now, with the launch of the A-Class in China, Mercedes-Benz has become the brand with the most comprehensive young product lineup in the luxury auto market," Hauber said.

Mercedes-Benz earlier introduced the smart brand to target younger elites with its sporty and stylish models. And the smart brand has been applauded by Chinese consumers and continued its upward flight in China in the first 10 months of this year.

Through unique marketing initiatives and governmental support towards achieving zero-emission mobility, the lifestyle-oriented smart again witnessed its best performing month ever in China since its entrance into the market.

The smart brand achieved sales of almost 1,000 units in October, its highest monthly sales ever in China while sales for the first 10 months jumped significantly by 179 percent.

Overall, Mercedes-Benz delivered nearly 14,000 units of Mercedes-Benz, smart, AMG, and Maybach in October. Sales for the first 10 months skyrocketed 128 percent to 115,330 units, solidifying its position as the fastest growing premium brand in China.

"Our diversified product portfolio has helped us achieve a record-breaking first 10 months of the year, making us extremely confident that we will surpass our 2010 sales target of 100,000 units, representing a three-digit year-on-year growth," Hauber said.

Mercedes-Benz has raised their ambitious goal to sell 130,000 cars in China this year from 100,000 cars, which was set at the beginning of the year, thanks to the continuous high sales momentum.

"With the launch of Mercedes-Benz A-Class model, the complete Mercedes-Benz car lineup will have been brought to China, which gives us even more confidence about Mercedes-Benz's performance in the market," Maier said.

The A-Class trend has already kicked off in China, which has accumulated positive market feedback during its pre-sales period that began in September.

"At the same time, we will continue to further strengthen our position as the fastest growing luxury and premium car brand here in China in the upcoming years," Maier added.

Next year, Mercedes-Benz is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the S-Class and the 125th anniversary of the invention of automobiles, when its founder, Carl Benz, obtained the world's first auto patent.

As Mercedes-Benz's flagship model, the S-Class continued to stand at the pinnacle of the world's top luxury car segment. In October, it sold 87 percent more cars at over 2,020, adding to a total sales figure of 18,485 units during the first 10 months - cementing China's position as the world's largest S-Class market.

Mercedes-Benz R-Class maintained its momentum with a noteworthy 192 percent rise in its monthly sales, thereby cementing China's place as its largest market around the world.