With the new 2012 Mercedes-Benz B-Class freshly unveiled in Frankfurt, there's a lot of talk within the company about premium compacts. Unfortuately, there's been no solid word on the matter as yet for America--but we might not have too long to wait.

Mercedes announced at an event this evening in Frankfurt that the first of its luxury compacts for the U.S.--there will eventually be five in total--will arrive at the 2012 New York Auto Show. Exactly what form the luxury compact will take is still unknown outside of Mercedes.

The B-Class is a solid bet, though even then we can't be sure if it'll be a hatchback, MPV, crossover, or some other variant. Perhaps all of them will end up here in the U.S. All we know now is that we have about seven more months until the first is unveiled.

For more details on the 2012 B-Class, check out our preview here.