Review
Fitting the B Class into Mercedes' brand hierarchy isn't the easiest of tasks. In terms of price it slots in, as the alphabet would have you suppose, between the A Class and the C Class. Yet in terms of space it offers more interior room than pretty much anything else in the range with the exception of the R Class and GL Class.
In the wider world the B Class should really compete against mid-sized people carriers like the Vauxhall Zafira and Renault Scenic, but unfortunately Mercedes' over-optimistic prices means that it looks very expensive compared to its direct rivals.
The design is taller and better filled out than the A Class, but lots of the same styling details are shared across the two cars. The cabin is impressively spacious and airy, and although it only has five seats there's plenty of room to fill them all with adults in decent comfort - and the boot is impressive large too.
On the road the B Class performs like a slightly bigger and heavier A Class, sharing its supermini sister's vague steering and limited enthusiasm for corners, but making up to an extent with impressive high-speed refinement and stability. That said, the ride quality can get poor over rougher urban roads, especially wearing the larger optional allow wheels.
Power comes from most of the same range of engines that do duty in the A Class, although the entry-point B150 feels over-exerted when asked to propel anything other than small loads, and the range-topping B200 Turbo should win an award for its utter pointlessness. The B180 CDI turbodiesel is probably the pick of the range, but it's wince-inducingly expensive.