Our good friend Bairesh Raj sent us snaps of the B-Class unveiled at UB City so that all Bangalorians can come and have a look at India's first sports tourer.
Mercedes India's experiment to sell a bean-shaped car in the 20-25 lakh rupee segment is NOT to claim back the numero uno position.
Mercedes say they have a smaller ambition, that of taking 15-20% share of this pie. They will introduce the B-Class in petrol this year (B180 BlueEfficiency), through the CBU route, in a fully-loaded form. The diesel (B180 CDI) will come next year and many more variants will follow in the coming years, through local manufacturing.
Mercedes can sustain sales of the B-Class with the CDI variants, but it is the platform itself that will keep Mercedes on their toes. On the MFA Platform, Mercedes will build 5 cars, four of which should come to India.
Mercedes says there's a huge list of existing customers who will also be interested in buying the B-Class as a second car. As we told you from our first drive at BIC, the B-Class is easily the biggest small car in India. The rear seat space and comfort is MPV territory. The same can be said for the boot space, that is 1,500 liters.
The B-Class is a good option if you are a weekend person.
From our perspective, Mercedes is value-selling this car. It will get compact engines that will perhaps be the most fuel efficient Mercedes has ever sold in India. It has a huge boot, excellent rear seat comfort, plenty of convenience and safety features, while carrying a price of tag of 25 lakhs.
