A SALOON version of the A-Class has been announced by Mercedes-Benz as the German car maker joins the current trend for ‘booted and suited' compact models.

The newcomer will be on the road next spring and will have its premiere at the Paris Motor Show in October.

At 14ft 11ins in length the A-Class saloon is some 10 inches longer than the hatchback which was launched earlier this year.

It is also slightly wider and higher and comes with a 420 litre boot - two suitcases more than the 341 litres of space offered in the hatch.

With coupe like styling, Mercedes is claiming the new A-Class saloon has the best rear headroom with almost a metre of space in the back of the car.

The A-Class saloon is also laying claim to being the most aerodynamic model on the market with a drag coefficient less than that of the CLA Coupe which it is likely to replace.

That helps on the fuel economy front and according to Mercedes the new A-Class saloon will have a fuel figure as high as 71mpg with emissions of 107g/km.

At launch, two engines will be offered on the A-Class saloon with the A 200 powered by a 1.4-litre turbo petrol with 163bhp and the A 180 diesel using a 1.5-litre 116bhp engine.

Both come with seven-speed DCT transmissions with the petrol powertrain rated at up to 54 to the gallon with 119g/km of CO2.

From the back seats forward, the saloon cabin is the same as that of the hatch which sees it being offered with the new MBUX voice control connectivity system which uses two display screens with sizes ranging for seven to 10.25 inches.

Like the A-Class hatch it comes with automatic emergency braking and active lane control as standard while other driver aids include a semi-autonomous system which allows the car to drive itself under certain conditions.

Production of the saloon, which be built at Rastatt in Germany and at the new Aguascalientes factory in Mexico, will start towards the end of the year with prices and full UK specification to be announced later.