Mercedes-Benz B-Class gets record ANCAP rating

The smallest Mercedes-Benz vehicle on the Australian new car market has scored the best-ever mark yet from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) program. The crash-testing program has revealed the new B-Class and the brand's Valente people-mover have been awarded five-star safety ratings.

The B-Class, which sells for under $40,000 for the base model, scored 36.78 out of 37 and ANCAP chair Lauchlan McIntosh said that as far back as the 1950s Mercedes was forging ahead in vehicle safety. "With the addition of modern-day Safety Assist Technologies (SATs), this is a winning combination for consumers,'' he said. 

Mr McIntosh said the ANCAP Rating Road Map progressively introduces minimum mandatory over the coming years. "Ahead of its time however, the B-Class has scored beyond the current requirements to achieve this 5 star result,'' he said. 

Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler spends AU$8.9 million a day globally on research and development and its safety programs are a key part of that global budget. 

The company that invented stability control, the airbag and anti-lock brakes and the "trickle-down'' effect of safety technology from its flagship models S-Class model has accelerated.

"Most of the features that we see in the S-Class now appear in the B-Class - this is now happening a lot quicker than it did in the past,'' said Mercedes-Benz corporate communications manager Jerry Stamoulis.

"Both the new B-Class and Valente offer the safety credentials expected from a Mercedes-Benz vehicle and in the case of the B-Class, the vehicle holds the highest score published by ANCAP,'' he said.

Mr Stamoulis said the new S-Class - due late next year - will also bring new safety advances not ever seen before. Mercedes-Benz also followed up the first five-star Australian-rated Viano commercial van with a similar score for the Valente. 

The eight-seater - based on the Vito van - sells for about $55,000 and comes standard with anti-lock brakes, stability control, dual front, side and head-protecting side airbags for the front seats.