Well, I think it was a 2015 Mercedes B-class but it could have been the 2005-2011 series. However, here is a clear sign that Mercedes are willing to go the extra mile when it comes to refinements.
…and go no further in every other regard.
I had about twenty minutes inside the B-class and I found it to be very unappealing. Not even the presence of an ashtray (which you can’t use) could lift the sense of gloom inherent in the car. It was not special in any way at all. Hard seats, flat seats, grey seats. Darkness. A – blocking the view out. The centre arm-rest ….absent. Samuel Beckett wrote plays which could evoke the same sense of low-grade despair that the B-class does. Don’t they spin a van off this as well?
Presumably there is a group inside MB working out how much they can leave off the B-Class before anyone notices. These cars are miserable and a sure way to show the validity of the statement that no-one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the general public. Anyone who bought this car instead of a loaded VW, Ford or Opel deserves to be on the receiving end of a wry, pitying half-smile.
Driven To Write 
“Samuel Beckett wrote plays which could evoke the same sense of low grade despair that the B-Class does.” Richard, that sentence has genuinely made my day. Thank you…
You are welcome. I was inspired, it came to me unmediated.
I had a rental B-Class in France some time ago. It was very unremarkable. I remember that it drove and that it was quite small for three people with their suitcases and an assortment of powertools. Ah yes, and the cruise control was rather fiddly or little logical to operate.
They are all metallic grey and black. Aren’t they for people who find the Golf too common? But they are no better, in some ways inferior. The B class could be MB’s most cynical offering.
Looks like the latest generation B-Class, which is indeed unfortunate as the treatment looks nasty.
Horrific A-pillar treatment apart, I did not mind the previous B-Class. To my mind it was the most honest use of Mercedes’ sandwich floor, gifting a huge amount of family-lugging space in a small footprint. The A-Class looked short and top heavy by comparison.