Benz Faqs

Mercedes-Benz will be revealing the compact B-Class hatch that has been built with a powertrain – which is designed to be powered by compressed natural gas. They will be showing this new design at the Washington Auto Show. Mercedes has already produced a dual-fuel version of the B-Class in Europe that can run on either petrol or compressed natural gas or both.

They have hopes that this same model or one even better will make its way to the United States. William Craven – the general manager for the regulatory affairs for Daimler’s Washington office told Automotive News that they want to test it for the U.S. market. “We’re testing the market” he said.

Mercedes has been working on a new small crossover that they are calling the BLK. According to sources the new car will be part of both the A and B Class range and will be ready to launch by 2011. They are hoping that the new BLK will be equal competition to the Land Rover LRX and the BMW X1.

Sources report that the BLK will receive four-wheel drive and possibly even a FWD eco version. The eco version might just be a micro-hybrid, if they opt out for a direct hybrid. The micro-hybrid has start/stop technology to improve fuel consumption when the car is not moving.

It looks like Mercedes will be giving their A- and B-Class models a whole new look for the 2011 model year. After months of low sales they have deduced that consumers are unhappy with the low power, bland design, and expensive price tag that they have come to expect from these models.

Mercedes is throwing the ‘basic’ design out the door and has promised that the new line up for the 2011 model year will be different. They are going to be completely re-designing the cars and giving them a front wheel drive system – which will save on the cost of production and will save consumers money. There are even rumors that they will be given a 230 horsepower engine. For now the most powerful engine is the 193 horsepower 2 liter turbo.