New Mercedes B Class to spawn 7 Seat version

It looks like Mercedes are going to stretch the appeal of the new B Class by adding a new 7 seat option.

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Mercedes foray in to small hatchbacks has not exactly been an unmitigated success.

The last generation A and B class were really just two sizes of the same car, neither of which had much driver appeal and were bought as runarounds by Mercedes buyers who wanted a car for ‘er indoors.

But finally Mercedes has woken up and decided it can compete in the compact hatch market and has delivered a new, and very convincing, A Class to take the fight to the BMW 1 Series. But what they’ve also done is deliver a new B Class that can still mop up the ”er indoors’ and ‘mummy on a school run’ market.

The new B C lass is a more convincing car than the old B Class – lower riding, sleeker and with new engines and gearboxes – but it’s an evolution of the old B class and not a clean-sheet start like the new A Class.

So it makes sense to add a seven seat option for the new B Class for families with a bigger brood, and that seems exactly what Mercedes are planning.

According to Autobild, Mercedes are planning to stretch the B Class (B CLass L?) by enough to plant an extra row of seats. Engines are expected to be the same on offer in the regular B Class – that’s a choice of power outputs from the 1.8 litre diesel and 1.6 litre petrol – as are trim levels.

Whether Mercedes get clever with the back doors and make them sliders or wide-opening suicide doors we’ll have to wait and see, but the 2014 stretched 7-seater Mercedes B Class looks set to debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

 

Source: Autobild