Mercedes-Benz is really aiming high for the new A-Class with its 2019 Super Bowl ad spot titled “Say The Word,” which it released today. In it, a random guy gets God-like powers that force the world, and it’s people and animals, to do his bidding. I mean, MBUX is cool, but I don’t think it’s been able to find any lost cats and has yet to make Ludacris appear at any of our parties.
The A-Class has been available elsewhere in the world for some time now, but 2019 is the first time that we’re getting it stateside, and to our eyes, it’s a damn sight prettier than its curvier cousin, the CLA.
As we see in “Say The Word,” the new A-Class is one of the first platforms in Mercedes’ range to get the latest and greatest MBUX infotainment system, and we appreciate this more democratic approach to the dispersion of tech. Why start on the S-Class and trickle-down? Give MBUX to the people!
“MBUX is a game-changer and we think that once aware of the A-Class price point and technology, a lot of people who hadn’t considered Mercedes or thought owning one was still several years away will want to take a look,” said Drew Slaven, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA. “And, given that we have some of the highest owner loyalty in the industry, once these new buyers join the brand, they’re likely to stay for quite some time.”
As part of MBUX’s natural speech recognition, it uses a form of AI that helps it understand you better when you talk. For example, if you whine at it, “Hey Mercedes, I’m cold,” MBUX will turn up the heat. It’s deceptively simple, but it works, and we like it.
The new A-Class starts at an annoyingly reasonable $32,500 for the front-wheel drive version and prices climb quickly from there, thanks to that most Teutonic of traditions: lengthy options lists.
Still, we’ve been looking at the configurator for like 20 minutes and still haven’t found the Demigod option. We’ll let you know if we come across it.