You would think that the car industry would be big enough and old enough not to have to jump on other people’s bandwagons. However, Mercedes describes its new A Class as being designed for the “Facebook generation”. Quite what that means is anyone’s guess. With so many people now on the social network, it doesn’t mean much more than a car for the “iPhone Generation”. Of course they said that too – the A Class is an “iPhone on wheels”, apparently.

In a clean sweep in the cliché bingo stakes, the designer Mark Fetherstone said, “when you see the A-Class from the front you can be reminded of a wild cat”, although to be fair, he did have the grace to admit that was a bit of a cliché.

Mercedes’ marketing chief Gerd Sailer said: “We are aiming at younger buyers not only with a sporty design and enhanced driving dynamics, but we also have an extensive multi-media package with full iPhone integration. It’s really cool how you can use the voice control system to fix appointments or call up news.”