IF the ‘premium’ compact SUV segment is a party, then Mercedes-Benz isn’t so much late as completely absent without leave.
While BMW and Audi have made hay with their respective X1/X3 and Q3/Q5 crossovers, the Three Pointed Star brand has had to sit back and watch as millions of potential customers sashay away to its arch rivals.
What’s made it doubly frustrating is that a suitable model has actually existed for more than five years in the boxy shape of the C-Class-sedan based GLK… except it’s only been available in left-hand drive configuration.
Why Mercedes chose to do this is one of modern motoring’s biggest mysteries. Needless to say it won’t be making that same mistake again when the second-gen version (to be called the GLC) lobs in sometime later in 2015.
Meanwhile, though, another “compact SUV” has snuck into the party from the Stuttgart firm, and this one already is already turning heads.
Dubbed GLA, this is pretty much what it looks like – a jumped-up version of the mega-successful A-Class.
Sure, every single body panel is different from the outside, some of the dashboard architecture has been altered to exude a more lifestyle-looking ambience, and the newcomer is longer, has more ground clearance and a 421-litre boot that’s some 80 litres larger than the hatchback’s.
But make no bones about it – this is to the latest baby Benz hatch what the XV is to the Subaru Impreza. In fact, the A-Class and GLA – along with the CLA sedan – all share the same transverse MFA transverse compact architecture.
Priced from $48,300 plus on road costs, the front-wheel-drive GLA200 CDI is the entry-level model in the three-pronged range.
Following that is the all-wheel-drive GLA250 4Matic from $58,600 plus ORC, ahead of the flagship GLA45 AMG AWD, from $80,430 plus ORC.
So the GLA currently consists of a front-drive diesel and a pair of turbo petrol AWDs, but it isn’t completely just an A-Class in Outback/Allroad-style drag.
Take the base car. Its 2.1-litre turbo-diesel engine is a big step up from the A200 CDI’s 1.8-litre unit despite the fact that it produces identical 100kW of power, 300Nm of torque and 4.6L/100km average combined fuel consumption figures.
That’s because Mercedes there’s more oomph down below while its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox has been completely revised to be far more driver-adaptive in its responses.
Perhaps that’s why the GLA diesel is as frugal as its A-Class equivalent despite weighing in at over 100kg more! Mercedes tells us that the latter will gain the bigger CDI engine sometime in 2015.
Moving on, the base car is hardly poverty spec, brandishing a full suite of safety gear like low-speed collision avoidance, a blind-spot monitor, a fatigue monitor and a pedestrian-friendly bonnet that pops up to provide a bigger buffer zone.
Also included is satellite navigation, an electric tailgate lifter and lowerer, dual-zone climate-control air-conditioning, parking sensors, a reversing camera, and 18-inch alloy wheels.
Mind you, the lower-tiered GLAs also feature Artico – or vinyl upholstery to you and me. Will Mercedes offer terry-towelling seat covers to compensate for our hot Australian summers?
The GLA250 4Matic, meanwhile, is expected to be the bestseller, and ups the ante with all-wheel drive of course, as well as heated front seats with a memory function, adaptive headlights, 19-inch alloys and a sunroof. But don’t expect leather to be standard.
Shadowing its hatchback fraternal twin by leveraging the same 155kW/350Nm 2.0-litre four-pot turbo, the GLA250’s slight weight penalty and higher ride height means it averages 0.6L/100km more on the combined cycle at 7L/100km.
That’s still over a full litre less than the GLA45 AMG, but then its uprated 265kW/450Nm 2.0-litre turbo screamer will scramble the small soft-roader to 100km/h from standstill in a Porsche Cayman-frightening 4.8 seconds – 0.4s slower than the A45 AMG but still mightily impressive for something so… SUV-esque.
For your fiver under $80K Mercedes throws in sports suspension, 20-inch alloy wheels, better brakes, an upgraded satellite navigation and multi-media system including surround-sound audio, active cruise control, a lane diversion monitor and special trim that lets your neighbours know you’ve chosen the quickest GLA available.
Other than all that, the GLA is pure A-Class – down to its electric rack and pinion steering, MacPherson strut front suspension and multi-link rear end.
Has Mercedes made it different enough to make an impact against the far-more bespoke Audi Q3 and BMW X1 that it is gunning for?
With a design as attractive as the GLA’s, it doesn’t matter – we predict the company will sell every single car it can get hold of.
With the premium and luxury SUV party still raging, it seems that even being as fashionably late as Benz is has its advantages – clearly consumers will see the GLA as the latest and greatest thing.
Byron Mathioudakis goauto.com.au
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