Ford’s ingenious new B-Max small car

This innovative new car will be competitively priced with the 1.4-litre petrol engine Studio model starting at £12,995, Zetec models at £15,600 and the top-of-the-range Titanium specification from £17,595.

The unique Ford Easy Access Door System delivers new levels of convenience, access and flexibility. It features conventional, hinged front doors and rear sliding doors, combined with a new body design. This integrates the traditional central pillar structure into the front and rear doors, rather than forming part of the bodyshell itself.

When both front and rear doors are open there is outstanding access to the interior, with a huge, clear aperture more than 1.5m wide. This is around twice the width offered by competitors with alternative door concepts and makes it significantly easier to enter or exit the rear seats, attend to children in child seats, or load and unload shopping.

Ford B-MAX’s twin sliding rear doors also offer added benefits in crowded streets or narrow parking bays when access via hinged doors could be awkward. The front and rear doors can be opened completely independently, so the front or rear cabin can be accessed as required.

Model line-up

Studio – available with manual five-speed transmission and the 1.4-litre 90PS Duratec engine. The Standard features include: body colour bumpers, adjustable load floor in luggage compartment, adjustable driver’s seat, rake- and reach-adjustable steering wheel, fold flat front passenger seat, one hand one motion fold flat rear seats, electrically-operated door mirrors and one-touch windows, centre rear seat head restraint, remote central locking, Ford Easy Fuel capless refuelling system, low tyre pressure Deflation Detection System, Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) and Intelligent protection System with front, side, knee and curtain airbags.

Zetec – choice of three petrol and one diesel engine including the new 1.5-litre TDCi and 1.0-litre 100PS EcoBoost. There is a choice of manual and automatic transmissions. All Zetec launch models will include Ford SYNC at no extra cost (usually £250). The Standard features on Zetec, additional to Studio, include: 15-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, halogen headlights with LED day running lights, front fog lights, leather trimmed steering wheel and gearshift knob, interior ambient lighting, sunglasses holder, manual air conditioning, child observation mirror, heated windscreen, DAB digital radio/CD with AUX, USB connection and Bluetooth, fuel computer and Thatcham alarm.

Titanium – choice of three petrol engines including 1.0-litre 120PS EcoBoost with stop/start and the 1.6-litre 95PS TDCi engine. Ford SYNC will be standard. Features additional to Zetec include: driver’s and centre rear seat armrests, driver’s seat adjustable lumbar support, cruise control, electronic automatic temperature control, automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers, heated front seats, Ford Power Start Button, front and rear carpet floor mats, Sony DAB digital radio/CD, 16-inch 15-spoke alloy wheels and high gloss upper and lower grille surrounds.

There are 11 exterior colours available on the B-MAX including new Race Red (solid) Tectonic Silver, Burnished Glow and Nautical Blue (metallic finishes).

The B-MAX brings new standards of fuel efficiency to the compact MAV class with Ford’s latest petrol and diesel powertrains equipped with low-CO2 ECOnetic Technology.

The petrol engine line-up is led by the three-cylinder Ford EcoBoost petrol engine, available in 100PS and 120PS versions. Equipped with the Ford Auto-Start-Stop system as standard, the 120PS EcoBoost engine achieves class-leading CO2 emissions of 114g/km and fuel consumption of 57.6mpg. Other petrol engine options include the 90PS 1.4-litre Duratec unit, or the 105PS 1.6-litre Duratec engine which is paired with Ford’s high-efficiency PowerShift six-speed automatic transmission with advanced dual clutch technology.

B-MAX is available with a choice of two Duratorq TDCi diesel engines, each offering best-in-class fuel efficiency. The 95PS 1.6-litre engine delivers CO2 emissions of 104g/km and fuel consumption of 70.6mpg. The 75PS 1.5-litre diesel, closely derived from the 1.6-litre engine, appears for the first time in Ford’s European product range. It achieves CO2 emissions of 109g/km and fuel consumption of 68.9mpg.

The Ford ECOnetic Technology pack fitted as standard to all B-MAX vehicles includes Electric Power Assisted Steering, which requires less energy than hydraulic power assisted steering systems, Gear Shift Indicator to highlight the most efficient gear changing points, and the Ford Eco Mode driver information system which helps drivers adopt a more economical driving style.

Smart Regenerative Charging, which charges the battery at the most economical point in the engine’s operating cycle, is also featured on the 1.0-litre EcoBoost and1.5-/1.6-litre TDCi Duratorq engines.

The innovative new B-MAX is the first European car to offer Ford SYNC, Ford’s voice-activated, in-car connectivity system featuring Emergency Assistance, which is designed to assist occupants to place a call to the emergency services in the event of a crash.

It is also the first vehicle in its segment to provide the added reassurance of the Active City Stop system, designed to help motorists avoid low speed collisions with stationary or slower moving traffic.

Ford SYNC is an advanced voice control, device integration and connectivity interface. It enables users to connect mobile phones and music players by Bluetooth or USB, make hands-free telephone calls and control music and other functions using voice commands.

It can automatically transfer contact information from a connected Bluetooth device to the vehicle, allows calls to contacts to be activated using straight-forward voice commands and reads text messages aloud from phones connected using Bluetooth MAP. You can also programme standard responses such as “I’ll be late for the meeting”, “I’ll be home on time” etc.

Through the GPS locator in the vehicle, it is able to ensure communications with the emergency services operator in the correct language throughout Europe to provide peace of mind and potentially life-saving technology to Ford B-MAX customers.