FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: B-Class Benz debuts

There's no mistaking the importance of the new Mercedes-Benz B-Class. It is after all, the car that will provide the platform for numerous new variants of small car for the three-pointed star over the next few years.

In its basic form, revealed yesterday at the Frankfurt motor show, the B-Class remains the embodiment of the previous model's packaging, but with the updated corporate style trickling down from the facelifted C-Class and the new ML SUV. Simply characterising it as a styling exercise, however, would be to underestimate the breadth of change under the skin. By a margin!

"We can safely claim we offer more car than any other manufacturer in this class," Benz exec Joachim Schmidt told the world's media during the launch of the new car yesterday.

Schmidt, Executive Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Sales and Marketing, remained on song with a follow-up remark concerning the front-wheel drive B-Class's packaging — the message being that competitors have just been gazumped.

"This new sports tourer offers more comfort and space than any other car in this class," he said.

Lower in height and more aerodynamic — boasting a drag coefficient of 0.26Cd — the new B-Class comes with direct-injected and turbocharged engines in petrol or diesel, with an optional 7G-DCT transmission (seven-speed dual-clutch).

The B-Class is now nearly 50mm lower at 1557mm. Benz engineers have also reduced the seat height, relative to the road (the H point) by 86mm, which the company claims will make access easier for a wider range of passengers. By changing the seat design in favour of a more upright position, Benz has freed up more legroom, now 976mm in the rear, and headroom is also improved.

According to the company's press material, the rear-seat legroom now surpasses that of the E-Class and even the S-Class sedans.

Embracing a new type of floorpan construction, which the VP of program management for the A/B-Class, Jörg Prigl describes as a "semi-sandwich", the new B-Class is expected to improve on the already five-star NCAP score of the previous model.

The new car will be tested when it goes on sale in Europe during November.

Electronic safety aids had been upgraded or introduced for the first time in the B-Class. These new or revised features include: Pre-Safe (a first in the B-Class), Collision Prevention Assist, Adaptive Headlamp Assist, Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Attention Assist (standard), Active Parking Assist, Brake Hold Function (standard with dual-clutch transmission), Hill Hold function, Linguatronic voice command system, reversing camera and Distronic Plus.

At the front of the car the engine design has been kept compact to facilitate a better turning circle for a front-wheel drive car with a relatively long wheelbase. Hydraulic mounts ensure drivetrain-related NVH is kept to a minimum.

The engines themselves comprise a 1.6-litre M270 four-cylinder petrol unit and a 1.8-litre turbodiesel developed from the OM651 family. Each engine type is available in two states of tune: the 90kW B 180 and 115kW B 200 petrol variants or the 80kW B 180 CDI and 100kW B 200 CDI diesel variants.

The Australian specification is yet to be confirmed, but in Europe the B-Class will be available with a six-speed manual transmission — and the option of the 7G-DCT dual-clutch transmission. Both transmissions are related by design. And for the new model, Benz engineers have relocated the electric steering assist servo to the steering gear, which the company claims optimises directness and agility.

Despite the significant improvements added features, the B-Class won't jump in price. Joachim Schmidt informed the press yesterday that the new B-Class represented "state of the art technology at the old price", which suggests the new model should be competitively priced when it arrives in Australia, sometime before mid-year, 2012.

And while we're waiting for the B-Class to arrive in the local market, Benz will already be embarked on five new variants based on the same platform. It's expected the platform will underpin a sedan, a 'mini CLS' and a compact SUV, at the very least. One or more of those variants will open up new North American and Asian markets for Mercedes-Benz.

In addition to expanding the company's reach in other markets with diverse B-Class variants, Benz also plans for the B-Class to be the alternative energy champion of the product range and is already experimenting with fuel-cell and EV technology. This is made easier by the B-Class's flexible packaging design.

"We have already built the future into that vehicle," is how Schmidt explained it.

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