The guests at the family gathering can still have their C-Class, E-Class and B-Class and there’s room to bring in new customers with the A-Class and CLA.

The bright blue paint, blacked out windows and alloys prompt stares from a lot of young people and it’s attracting a lot more attention than any Mercedes I have driven before. 

A colleague asked of our test car: “When can I have a ride in the sex machine?”

AM Awards judges' comments

Voted for by AM readers, this is what the judges had to say of AM’s 2013 New Car of the Year: “A complete revolution compared to its staid predecessor, the new A-Class has the style, dynamism and technology required to punch its weight in the highly-competitive prestige hatchback sub-segment. 

Retailers report that buyers are part-exchanging a fairly broad variety of cars, from Audi A3 to Volkswagen Golf, and even Citroën DS3.

“This suggests the car will be successful at making consumers consider their first new Mercedes-Benz.”