GRR

The new Mercedes GLB is a refreshingly rugged SUV

15th April 2019
Bob Murray

Aiming to capture a little of the rufty-tufty character of the extreme G-Wagen off-roader, this is the new Mercedes-Benz GLB announced today. In a world of coupe-like SUVs, the latest addition to Merc’s fast-growing compact-car family puts the focus less on sports and more on the utility.

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With its roof-mounted spotlights, sump guard, built-in roofbox and chunky tyres, it ticks the macho 4x4 box while simultaneously sexing up all the virtues of a good mid-size MPV. These include a versatile seven-seat cabin layout and the ability to take four child seats. For desert raider think school-run special.

Dressing up family values with a sense of off-roading adventure is Merc’s latest move to dominate the premium compact class with the ever-growing A-class family of cars. With all its assorted body styles, this family now accounts for one in four of all Mercs sold.

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We can see the first GLB adding to that big time, adding more room and practicality than the sleeker sportier GLA offers while returning to the high-riding boxiness and walk-in cabin access lost with the latest B Class, now badged a “sports tourer”. One thing’s for sure, in the world of the SUV there’s always a niche somewhere that needs filling…

A long wheelbase is key to the new model’s versatile interior. It is not just longer than that of the GLA, by 130mm or five inches, but a little longer as well than its equally new B Class cousin. The extra does mean this is now a bigger breed of compact car – over 4.6m long and 1.9m tall with it – but one that can, for the first time in any compact Mercedes, offer three rows of seating.

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The extra perches are two individual seats that pop up out of the boot floor; Mercedes says they are okay for “medium sized” people. To make the most of the space, the mid-row bench slides fore and aft, and also folds flat, so your options are a spacious five-seater complete with reclining rear backrests, a seven-seater, or a two-seater with long and flat load deck.

In another break with B Class tradition, it’s a sexy looking interior, too. All the new A-class cars are notable for their particularly slick and fully featured cabins, but, echoing the off-road adventure theme of the exterior, the GLB’s interior offers something fresh by playing up the outdoorsy theme to great effect. Chestnut brown nubuck, orange highlights, perforated leather, open-pore walnut and shiny knobs made to appear as if machined from solid aluminium all feature.

But then the car you see here is still, officially at least, a concept. That is how GLB is being unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show this week, and it’s exactly how the GLA was unveiled at the same show six years ago – and that car was in the showrooms six months later. If the GLB isn’t in the showrooms by the winter we will be very surprised; we just hope the off-road flavour, the spotlights, integrated roofbox and indulgent interior options, all make production with it.

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As shown in Shanghai, the GLB comes with the 224PS (221bhp) four-cylinder engine mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission feeding all four wheels via 4Matic all-wheel-drive – all as familiar from other A-class family members. New to this model are driving modes that comprise Comfort, Sport and Off-road, the latter distributing torque 50-50 front to rear.  No other off-road gizmos are likely; in terms of off-road ability Mercedes points to nothing more than “rough farm tracks”.

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For Mercedes, like its rivals, you can never have too many SUVs – last year the three-pointed star brand shifted 820,000 of them, representing the largest market segment for the firm. With other new Merc SUVs like the big-power Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 and super-luxury, super-sized new GLS also launching this week, there are loads more SUVs still to come…

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  • GLB

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