Mercedes B-Class caught undisguised

Text: Paul Bond / Photos: Autobild

04th July 2011

The secret’s out! Our spies in Germany have spotted the new Mercedes B-Class completely undisguised, months before it is due to be officially unveiled.

And it’s clear from our exclusive pictures that the next-generation MPV has stepped things up in the style stakes. Two sharply contoured feature lines run along the body from the headlamps and sweep under the doors. Plus, the lights – which now include LEDs – are much slimmer than before.

The model in our shots sits on big twin-spoke alloys, and the wheelbase – which, at 2.70 metres, is 30.5cm longer than the VW Golf’s – and will create much more interior space for passengers than its key rival.

It will help improve ride comfort, too, as well as a clever new multi-link rear suspension set-up. In fact, the roomy model sits on an entirely new platform that will spawn a whole range of new compact vehicles for Mercedes.

Starting with the B-Class in December, this family of small cars will include the fresh A-Class, and a front-wheel-drive crossover SUV set to sit below the LHD-only GLK.

Under the bonnet, the B-Class will initially use an all-new 1.6-litre petrol and a highly-efficient 1.8 diesel engines that will both be introduced to the the C-Class range next year, adapted for the rear-wheel-drive layout.

All the new cars have done away with the previous-generation models’ unique ‘sandwich’ architecture. And the B-Class’s spacious layout will allow room for the firm to introduce a variety of advanced alternative powertrains during the car’s lifecycle.

Our sources indicate that the company won’t only offer conventional four-cylinder engines. By 2014, the car will have a mild-hybrid, a range-extender plug-in hybrid, an electric-only variant, and – as with the current generation – an ‘F-cell’ hydrogen model.

A trick double-boot floor or 'Energy Space' will allow room for the batteries or hydrogen tanks, while keeping a decent-sized load space.

Read our full story on the B-Class hybrid and electric models here.

The German companies's engineers also made no secret of the fact that it was looking to its Alliance partners Renault to help develop a range of even smaller engines with a 1.0, 1.2 and 1.4-litre outputs, and the possibility of a three-cylinder Mercedes by 2013 seems highly likely, as the firm continues its downsizing trend in terms of engines.

Yet despite this wave of new engine technology, the B-Class is still aimed squarely at Mercedes’ traditional older customers. Chief engineer Hans Engel said that it was “designed with our current A-Class buyers in mind”.

Although compact front-wheel-drive models are still relatively new for the brand, Engel also assured us that the B-Class would be a premium product, with a high-quality interior and many hi-tech on-board safety systems borrowed from the S-Class saloon.