Ford B-MAX Titanium 1.6-litre TDCi  95PS

Ford car review: PETER NUNN

What is it?

THE Ford B-MAX is Ford’s new and skilfully packaged small people mover, recently launched in the UK.

Based on the Fiesta and built in Romania, the B-MAX rivals small cars that offer greater practicality to business users – such as the Honda Jazz, Nissan Note and Citroen C3 Picasso.

However, what distinguishes the B-MAX from that trio and other rivals, says Ford, is not just its clever use of cabin space, it’s the car’s ingenious pair of rear doors.

These sliding doors – and lack of central B-pillar – give an unrivalled level of cabin entry and exit for the class through an opening that measures a full 150 cm across.

Ford has engineered it so that front and rear doors lock together so effectively that there’s no need for a conventional B-pillar.

For those wondering at this point whether the Ford B-MAX body and door structure can really can be strong enough to stand up to impact without that normally vital middle pillar, Ford’s reply is that it’s subjected it to more than 5000 tests to make sure. The B-MAX has also emerged with a five star Euro NCAP crash test rating thus putting it in the top class for safety.