New Mercedes B-Class with major technical changes

Nov 2, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Stuttgart - The second generation Mercedes B-Class has just been launched on European markets with a major technical revision and engines that undercut fuel consumption of the predecessor model by up to 21 per cent.

The new four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines come with direct injection and turbo charging. The dual clutch transmission and manual transmission is also new, with several new assistance systems supporting the driver.

'No model change in the history of Mercedes-Benz has ever seen so many new developments introduced in one fell swoop,' said Thomas Weber, member of the board of management, responsible for group research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development.

Both diesel models (B 180 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and B 200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY) are listed with a fuel consumption of 4.4 litres per 100 kilometres compared to 5.2 litres in the previous model.

Apart from a more aerodynamic exterior design, other optimization measures include improved air flow around the front wheels and underbody.

What Mercedes calls a world first in the compact segment is a radar-based collision warning system with adaptive brake assist as standard, which lowers the risk of rear-end collisions. The system gives a visual and acoustic warning to alert a possibly distracted driver to identified obstacles, and prepares Brake Assist for the most precise possible braking response.