After setting the standards for luxury products for over a decade, Mercedes-Benz is all set to introduce its first ever Compact Sports Tourer sporting a compact price tag as well

Opening the large doors led us to a rather dark but spacious cabin. The interiors were all black with silver accents all around. Expect a change here as well since black interiors for our climate is a strict no-no. The fascia is a typical Mercedes design with everything laid out ergonomically. The seats felt great and the view is extremely friendly with nothing obstructing the view. A nice slick multimedia screen sits in your face giving you all the audio/car info you need. But that’s about it. The lack of a million buttons on the dashboard does make this Benz feel a little out of place but then I was still getting used to a Mercedes without the additional frills.

Moving to the back bench is just as interesting. There is loads of space and even with 6 footer like our resident road tester Dilip, there was more than enough legroom. Sitting three abreast is also quite comfortable thanks to the B-Class’ wide girth. What is also noticeable is the ease with which you can get in and out of the car. Ingress-egress is brilliant thanks to the high roof and the wide opening doors.
Twisting the typical key fob, the B-Class came to life with a rather buzzy note. Buzzy I say because resting under the hood of this B200 was a 1.6 litre CGI unit pushing out a very impressive 156 horses. However India is expected to get the B180 variant with the same 1.6 litre unit but pushing out a tamer 122 PS. The petrol will be followed by a diesel too and we think it will be the B180 CDI sporting the 1.8 common rail diesel and pushing out about 136 PS.

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