Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
I drove the Mercedes-Benz B-class last week—here’s some background: Mercedes-Benz is launching the third generation of its compacts—and this one marks a full departure from the previous A- and B-classes’ unique architecture. Previously, there was a sandwich-style, two-level floor, and the entry-level cars sported engines with a triangular cross section. The dual floor was designed to carry batteries, but alas, the expected EV breakthrough never materialized.
After two generations, the bean counters have had enough of it—the original architecture required unique engines and transmissions, severely curtailing economies of scale. The new A- and B-class ,plus derivatives, feature front-wheel architecture of the conventional kind. That makes sense, but it happens just as the world seems to be ready for electrics, and just as Audi is launching a second-gen A2 with an extremely space-efficient architecture. Oops.
Audi’s A2, of course, is happening, and it will be built on the MQB platform—which also will be used by Volkswagen—Audi development chief Michael Dick hints to me. Dick also concedes the demographics of buyers of the first-gen A2 were not quite as youthful as Audi would have liked them to be, and he expects a similar story this time. Easy ingress and egress seem to be the most important characteristic in this segment.
Powertrain Developments
I asked engineers if the supercharger has a future at Audi; the answer was underwhelming. The reason is not a lack of efficiency, but high cost. Audi’s remarks echoed what I heard at the Mercedes-Benz B-class launch last week. (Mercedes-Benz has used superchargers in both AMG and non-AMG engines in recent years.)
The fact that BMW is canceling the X6 hybrid in the U.S. is sending ripples through the industry. The line we Europeans have been fed went like this: We backwards folk prefer the diesel, but we need to build the hybrid for the U.S. market. Really? It will be interesting to see how Audi’s A6 and A8 perform. Audi’s approach is different; while BMW has engineered and commercialized the X6 hybrid as a high-power derivative, Audi is going for efficiency and low consumption. Privately, Audi executives admit they don’t expect outrageous sales numbers.
Opinions are diverging widely on the merit of three-cylinder engines. Jörg Prigl, who is in charge of Benz’s A- and B-classes, says that there is no real-life benefit in three-bangers. He won’t have them in his cars—except, perhaps, as a range extender for an electric version. “Noise, vibration, and harshness are still topics. And drivers need to rev them higher, which kills mileage.”
Audi’s engineers also don’t seem to be big fans of three-bangers, I gather from various conversations. Don’t hold your breath for three-cylinder engines in the A1, A2, or A3.
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