A B pillar of a motor vehicle with a base region and a head region; in the base region, there is a contact region with a connecting region for connecting the B pillar to a rocker panel; over the span of its height from a base edge to a B pillar head, the B pillar has hard and soft regions, wherein the B pillar has a soft region, which extends from a contact region of the B pillar with the rocker panel to the B pillar head and in this case, extends for at least 100 mm.