MERCEDES has announced new fuel-saving Mercedes ECO versions of its A and B-Class models that are bound to appeal to business drivers with their favourable company car tax treatment and low fuel consumption.
The A180 CDI ECO SE and B180 CDI ECO SE replace the manual gearbox versions of the current A180 CDI SE and B180 CDI SE models in the UK line-up.
The two new Mercedes ECO cars use aerodynamic tweaks, including a lowered ride height, longer gear ratios and a lightweight fuel tank, among other measures to squeeze CO2 emissions as low as 92g/km in the case of the A180 CDI ECO SE and 98g/km in the case of the B180 CDI ECO SE, reductions of six and nine per cent respectively.
In the case of the A-Class, combined cycle fuel consumption improves from 74.3mpg to 78.5mpg, while the Mercedes ECO modified B-Class jumps eight per cent to 74.3mpg. Mercedes says that power and performance are unaffected by the changes.
Both models are clean enough to escape road tax, and the company car tax band for the Mercedes ECO A-Class is just 13 per cent, with qualification for 100 per cent capital allowance until 2015.
Prices start at £21,965 on the road for the A180 CDI ECO SE and £22,950 for the B180 CDI ECO SE.
We recently drove the Mercedes B-Class – click here to read the full car review.
