The US market won’t be getting the microvan-style Mercedes B-Class or the hot little A-Class hatch (thanks to to “consumer clinics”), but we will be getting a a crossover, a sporty coupe and a sedan based on the same front-drive platform. Because these models will form the new entry-level for the Mercedes brand in the US, we can assume the new models will have a similar interior to the B-Class, which debuts at the Frankfurt show in September… and that means this video is a sneak-peek at an interior we won’t see at a dealership until 2012 at the earliest. So… what do we think?
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Just like they do with every vehicle they bring over here, they’ll load it up to the point where it will be priced out of most people’s range, unlike the 190 from the 90′s.
Queue the usual MB snide remaarks and use 20 year old foggy memory references for comparisons. Whine* all MB must have RWD, all MB must have leather , MB must be built like x model.. with wacky great star on the bonnet.
The world has evolved and moved on , maybe others should too.
And no Hatch again.?? . *shakes head*
Looking at the vents it seems they took up some design clues from the R 107 series from the 70s.
Thank God, I’m no interior design guy. I would not know what to do to create something new that is both elegant and usable in addition. They would throw me out in no time.
Clear and simple is currently not en vogue, obviously. The first Audi TT interior was beautiful, in my eyes. But look how they have bloated it.
I suspect that there is a solid majority that (silently) hates simple, clear designs out of fear that simple might be considered as cheap. They’d rather live with all kind of fake materials. Once and a while such designs show up, but vanish within the next one or two years. Even Mercedes had to add some (useless) wood to their then revolutionary 190 (W201) interior design.
There’s nothing elegant about a cluster of nostrils in the middle of the dash. It wasn’t elegant in the 70s cars, and it isn’t elegant today. Squared vents hide the ducting much more readily.
Well, at least it was new at this time and usable.