Compare the2022 Mercedes A-ClassVS 2022 Volkswagen Arteon

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mercedes A-Class have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Volkswagen Arteon doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The A-Class’ optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Arteon doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

The A-Class’ driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Arteon doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the A-Class and the Arteon have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, lane departure warning systems and around view monitors.

The A-Class’ corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Arteon’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Mercedes vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 20 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Mercedes higher than Volkswagen.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Mercedes vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen With 22 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Mercedes higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Mercedes vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Mercedes 4 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

The A-Class stops much shorter than the Arteon:

Changing a flat tire near traffic can be dangerous and inconvenient. The run-flat tires available on the A-Class can be driven up to 50 miles without any air pressure, allowing you to drive to a service station for a repair. The Arteon doesn’t offer run-flat tires.

The A-Class’ drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Arteon doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

The A 220 4MATIC handles at .95 G’s, while the Arteon SE R-Line 4Motion pulls only .89 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The A 220 executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Arteon SEL Premium R-Line 4Motion (26.5 seconds @ .68 average G’s vs. 26.9 seconds @ .65 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the A-Class’ turning circle is 2.9 feet tighter than the Arteon’s (36.1 feet vs. 39 feet).

The Mercedes A-Class may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 550 pounds less than the Volkswagen Arteon.

The A-Class is 1 foot shorter than the Arteon, making the A-Class easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The design of the Mercedes A-Class amounts to more than styling. The A-Class has an aerodynamic coefficient of drag of .27 Cd. That is lower than the Arteon (.3) and many sports cars. A more efficient exterior helps keep the interior quieter and helps the A-Class get better fuel mileage.

The A-Class has 2.4 inches more front headroom, .6 inches more front legroom and .1 inches more rear headroom than the Arteon.

Unlike the driver-only memory seat and mirrors in the Arteon SEL/SEL Premium, the A-Class has standard driver and passenger memory, so that when drivers switch, the memory setting adjusts the driver’s seat and outside mirror angle and the front passenger seat also adjusts to the new passenger’s preset preferences.

The A-Class offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Arteon doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The A-Class’ optional Active Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Arteon SEL Premium’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

The A-Class will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the A-Class will retain 44.32% to 44.51% of its original price after five years, while the Arteon only retains 39.15% to 40.07%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Mercedes A-Class will be $968 to $7582 less than for the Volkswagen Arteon.

The Mercedes A-Class outsold the Volkswagen Arteon by 80% during the 2021 model year.