New Mercedes B-Class (2012) exterior photo leaks

2012 Mercedes B-Class - it's the one on the left (click for bigger image)

We did wonder if Mercedes were trying to keep exterior photos of the 2012 Mercedes B-Class under wraps until it launches at Frankfurt next month. Not much chance of that now the first official exterior photo has leaked out.

In case you’re wondering, the 2012 B-Class is on the left, with the 2008 B-Class on the right. And maybe it’s just us, but we don’t see a lot to shout about.

Perhaps we were expecting an revolution from the rather bland current B-Class in to a car that would spawn a dozen variants from Coupe to SUV. But what we’ve got seems to be a nip and a tuck of the current car.

We do know the interior of the 2012 B-Class is a nicer place to be than the current model, because Mercedes sent us interior photos to check it out. But we’re a bit hard pushed to see the big step forward on the outside.

Technically, we know the new B-Class is bigger than the current car, although it does sit a little less high. We also know the engines and transmissions for the new B-Class are all new too.

But although Mercedes tell us that the chassis on the B-Class is’ fascinatingly agile’ with it’s lower centre of gravity, new back axle and upgraded ESP we do think – unless we took our stupid pills on the day the press release on the B-Class came in – that the new B-Class continues to use the expensive sandwich floor platform of the current car, and not the cheaper and more flexible platform of the next A-Class.

So, if that’s the case, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that the designers of the new Mercedes B-Class seem to have taken to heart the 911 car design mantra and believe they only need the lightest of tweaks on perfection with each new iteration.

Let’s hope when we see all the photos we can see the advances Mercedes has made on the 2012 B-Class. And hopefully some of the photos of the new B-Class will have alloys that don’t look two sizes too small.

Perhaps we just expected too much.

Source: Joke for Blog

By Cars UK