While Mercedes-Benz has been working on bringing the B-Class to the U.S. market for over 3 years now, but the project was never realized. Mercedes-Benz may be stepping up efforts again with a new initiative – a natural gas-powered B-Class for the US consumers. They will be displaying a natural gas-powered vehicle at the Washington Auto Show this week.
“We’re testing the market,” said William Craven, general manager of regulatory affairs for Daimler’s Washington, D.C. office. Craven told Automotive News that Mercedes-Benz already sells a version of the B-Class in Europe that can run on gasoline or compressed natural gas (CNG). The company is displaying one of those CNG B-class cars at Washington Auto Show this week to gauge interest.
There you have it, if public interest in B-Class CNG is high enough, they might just bring it stateside.
via – MotorTrend
I guess the problem is supply of the natural gas at the stations.
Also pricing is another factor. I suppose Merc can lease these vehicles with a restricted time frame of 3 to 4 yrs..similar to the mini-e and the bmw hydrogen7? But i think the appeal will come if it is backed by a no cost maintenance during the duration of the vehicle’s loan.
Thank you for elucidating some difficult financial concepts. I enjoyed reading your article..
I actually saw this at the DC auto show and was quite disappointed…not in the car, but in the presentation. It was in small section with other “green” cars, and was not even on the main show level. There was little information about any of the cars, and no product specialists in sight. I was excited to see the B-Class in the US, but would have appreciated more information…
Very, very interesting post.
I wish I had known about the event and regret not to have participate.
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