Mercedes teases GLA compact SUV

Mercedes Benz has teased the upcoming GLA compact luxury SUV by putting up an official sketch of the same on the brand's Facebook page.

The German carmaker previewed the GLA in concept form at the Shanghai motor show held earlier this year. The GLA will also be the latest model to be spun off Mercedes’ latest front-drive MFA architecture, following the latest A-class and B-class models and the CLA saloon, which will also come to India soon.

The GLA is expected to be 4383mm long, 1978mm wide and 1579mm high. The wheelbase is believed to be the same 2699mm employed by its siblings - the A-class and B-class. These dimensions closely match the Audi Q3 and BMW X1, the chief rivals that the GLA will face when it hits international markets next year.

The front features perhaps the most modern treatment yet of Mercedes’ familiar core design, with just two horizontal bars used for the front grille, which places the marque’s three-pointed star logo at its centre. Continued..

The five-door GLA’s gently sloping roofline flows into the tailgate to give a sleek and sporty silhouette. This profile is enhanced by flared wheel-arches and a beltline that rises towards the C-pillars that wrap around to the rear over slim tail-lights to visually widen the rear of the car at the bottom, giving a sporty, squat stance.

As seen from the interiors of the concept shown at the Shanghai motor show, the layout on the centre console and the positioning of the round air vents, multimedia screen and instrument binnacle are recognisable from other MFA models such as the A-Class and the B-Class will also feature in the production GLA.

Power is expected to come from the similar range of petrol and diesel engines seen on other Mercedes MFA platform-based cars. On the GLA, drive will channeled to all four wheels through a seven-speed, dual-clutch, automatic transmission and Mercedes’s proprietary 4-Matic system. The four-wheel drive system should be offered with the more potent engines in the range with front-wheel drive supplied as standard.

Later next year, the Mercedes-Benz GLA range will be crowned by a GLA45 AMG version. The hot range-topper will use the same running gear as the A45 and CLA45 models, which means power will be sent to all four wheels by a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine with 355bhp.