Acknowledging the whims of the North American market, Mercedes is reportedly considering the development of a B-Class plug-in hybrid. This should not be a surprise since Mercedes has been saying all along that hybrids are a class of drivetrains that will be part of their offerings. As the smallest Mercedes available in the U.S. market, the B-Class will be another component of their war against their German rivals.
But as other variants of the B-Class have shown, this small Mercedes is by no means an entry-level vehicle. Interior appointments and safety features are at par with those of the C- and even E-Class. With the introduction of a plug-in hybrid, MBNA is giving buyers in one of its largest markets even more choices and options to get into these superbly engineered cars.
Unfortunately, this very noncommital “…considering…” caveat is the MB codeword for something else that will *never* come to North America unless Hades freezes over.
Case in point: last November, I happened to email MB’s website expressing interest in the B-Class and that I was travelling to Munich in December, so could I possibly see one at a dealership (understanding that I can’t be a buyer yet in my home market)? Observationally, if MB really has interest in advancing the B-Class in the North America market, one would think that they would have jumped on this opportunity. Nope:
“At this time we have no official information regarding the release of the above vehicle or any vehicles or programs in place such as the one described below.”
“Based on this information, you may consider contacting Mercedes-Benz in Europe…however as there are no official plans to bring this vehicle to the US market, this may not be something that is helpful to you.”
I can understand any manufacturer wanting to not disclose future business plans, but if it is for real, the cat’s been out of the bag since at least NYC’s Auto Show last Winter, when MB Reps were claiming that these small Benzes were going to be coming to the USA?
Plus, I find it very highly disappointing that they also claimed that they have utterly no information at all about a model that’s sitting in their own dealerships in Germany. That’s a failure to meet this customer’s expectations.
-hh
Amazing. Check out the video for Toyota’s Virtual Booth from the NAIAS auto show. Click below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVCNbXknUxg