Mercedes-Benz, fighting for the global luxury market lead with BMW and Audi, is going after the younger generation. And how are they going about this? Through a brand new A-Class hatchback meant to compete with BMW’s 1 Series and Audi’s A3 in the compact luxury car segment.

The new A-Class won’t hit U.S. showrooms until 2014 (Europe will see the new line starting in September). But when that new, sporty luxury does get its slimmed down bod stateside, you’ll be able to buy it in three different styling classes; urban, style and AMG sport.

And when I say you, I’m talking specifically about the “younger-generation”. Those wild and crazy middle-life crisis enduring guys and gals looking to break into the luxury class for the first time. Gordon Wagener, Mercedez-Benz design chief, said a key priority was to develop an appearance appealing to younger customers. Joachim Schmidt, head of sales and marketing at Mercedes, echoed this sentiment in the company statement:

“We are targeting buyers aged from the late 30s to the mid 40s.”

Whoa! When a purveyor of luxury automobiles goes and says outright that folks in their late 30s and early 40s are young, then you know the “40 is the new 30 and 30 is the new 20” adage is definitely true.

So get on with your youth, put yourself out there on a new and exciting path that leads who knows where, reconnect with the old crew, and just go out and live, dammit.

(If you don’t happen to have the funds for a Mercedes and are still looking for a new car of any variety, let CarWoo help you with that.)

[photo by lwr]