Mercedes design has undergone a huge transformation in the past 10 years, with a fresh focus on swooping lines and flashy chrome touches. Everything wearing a three-pointed star on its nose, from A-Class to S-Class, shares a familiar shape borne out of a clear design language. Based on the new Aesthetics A Concept, though, that language is set to change.
Anyone who's taken a look at a recent Mercedes concept will know creased, edgy designs aren't exactly in vogue at the moment. The 2015 F015 looks like a jellybean on wheels, and the Generation EQ is all about slick, rounded edges. Even the production range, with the exception of the utilitarian G-Class, has moved away from the bluff, upright looks that once defined the brand.
The Aesthetics A takes the current design language and smooths it out even further. Rather than adorning the basic shape with unnecessary slashes and creases (we're looking at you, Lexus), Mercedes has focused on using long, sweeping surfaces and contours to give the design character. You can expect to see this shade of red on plenty of cars in future, too, with Mercedes describing it as "a new signature."
For now, Aesthetics A previews the next generation A-Class, but you can expect cues from this dripping red blob of styling to pop up on the C-Class facelift when it arrives. Just don't expect any slashes or creases.
"Form and body are what remain when creases and lines are reduced to the extreme. We have the courage to implement this purism," says Gordon Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Daimler. "Design is also the art of omission: the days of creases are over."
Source: Daimler
