The New Mercedes B-Class

Now we know why Mercedes released pictures of just the ‘inside’ of their new B-Class a few weeks agoDespite liberal use of the word ‘sport’ in the press release, we can’t imagine many buyers choosing a B-Class for its external appearance or street cred. No, this is a car that’s all about the experience of travelling inside aluxurious and well-designed cabin – a characteristic it borrows from the much maligned R-Class.No model change in the history of Mercedes-Benz has ever seen so many new developments introduced in one fell swoop,Development Head at Mercedes-BenzCars.

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The big change with the new B-Class is its move upmarket and Mercedes have combined spaciousness with luxury to underpin the new car’s premium credentials. Despite being 5 cm lower than its predecessor, the new B-Class is bigger inside with more headroom (thanks to a 86 mm lower seating position) and a more upright driving position. In fact rear leg room is now so generous that at 976 mm it even surpasses that Although Mercedes would never choose to describe the B-Class towards some of the versatility of that sector in the optional which enables simple reorganisation of the interior so as to enable the transportation

The modular “Energy Space” platformto be shared with the new A-classmeans that the new B-Class is already designed to accommodate versions with an alternative drive – appropriate interfaces in the body shell enable the main floor panel to be modified and a step to be produced for the versions with alternative drive. An underfloor compartment covering part of the area under the rear bench seat also offers space for alternative energy accumulators.But for now, the power sources are strictly petrol and diesel. At launch the B-Class can be configured with a choice of two all-new 1.6-litre four cylinder turbocharged engines with the B 180 producing 121bhp and 147lbft, and the B 200 with 154bhp and 184lb ft. The maximum torque of both engines