Sleek new look for cheapest Mercedes

Brand's entry-level EV saloon will showcase new platform and range-boosting powertrain tech from EQXX concept. New small saloon will be most affordable model in rejigged range; MMA architecture is part of plan for increased profit margins

- Sean Carson, Alastair Crooks 

MERCEDES will redefine the entry point from of an all-new compact luxury car. It will also mark the debut of a new platform and infotainment system for the brand.

Based on the firm's forthcoming MMA underpinnings, the new all-electric compact saloon will rival Tesla's Model 3 as the most affordable model in the Mercedes range.

Speaking to investors last year on the future of the company's line-up, Mercedes boss Ola Källenius said: "The entry point to the Mercedes brand in the future will be a different one than it is today." On top of this, a strategy presentation showed that the company plans to reduce its 'portfolio of variants' (understood to mean bodystyles) in the 'entry luxury' class from seven to four, raising prices as well.

It's believed that this new car, previewed by our exclusive images (and which our spy photographers have caught testing) will front the strategy, as well as ushering in new tech.

Expect some of that technology to trickle down from the brand's record-breaking Vision EQXX concept car, which focused on maximising efficiency to deliver range.

In a smaller car such as the first MMA-based model, this will be key, so some of the EQXX's motor tech (delivering 95 per cent efficiency), power-control electronics and other features could be scaled up for series production in the new model. It's also likely that the car's sleek styling will draw on aerodynamic cues first seen on the EQXX to reduce drag and increase range.

Mercedes Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer told Auto Express that the battery, e-motor, aspects of the EQXX's inverter and some 'bionic engineering' cast-metal parts will feature on series production cars in the future, so there will be a large carryover from this test bed. "We wanted to have something that mirrored what was happening in the real world," he said of the EQXX. "We want to bring this tech to series production and see the same results."