A family-friendly, seven-seater compact SUV, the all-new Mercedes GLB has been introduced in production form.
The count of compact SUVs making their way to the world is increasing by the day. Now, with the introduction of a seven-seater compact SUV – the all-new Mercedes GLB-Class is all set to tickle the tastebuds of a successful person looking for a car that can comfortably accommodate a family and venture into the world in style.
In terms of design, the new Mercedes GLB draws inspiration from its larger siblings. The upright front section of the car with its striking headlamps and single-slat wide grille gives it an imposing stance. The short overhangs at the front and the rear also add up to the muscular appeal. The GLB is slapped with protective cladding all-round which imparts a more off-road ready appearance.
Inside, one can immediately notice the instrument panel which consists of a single piece with optical cut-outs. The driver faces this widescreen cockpit, with control and display via MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience). Another interesting design detail lies in the off-road tubular element in an aluminium look, which rounds off the lower section of the instrument panel and houses the three round centre air vents.
The new Mercedes-Benz GLB is positioned between the GLA and the GLC-Class, sitting nearer to the GLC. With a wheelbase of 2,829 mm, the GLB has 100 mm more wheelbase than the other MFA-platform cars, including the new B-Class. The GLB gets a MacPherson strut set-up at the front and an “acoustically and vibrationally decoupled” multi-link axle with compression springs at the rear. Adaptive adjustable damping is available as an optional. With this, the driver can change between more comfort or particularly sporty tuning via the Dynamic Select drive-mode switch. The USP of the car, however, is the third-row seating that, the company claims, can be used by people up to 1.68 metres tall.
The new GLB boasts the qualities of an estate with a boot volume of 560 to 1,755 litres, for the five-seater. The second row can, optionally, be longitudinally adjusted but, as standard, the backrests angle is adjustable in several stages. This enables the load compartment to be enlarged by up to 179 litres, making the car even more practical.
The Mercedes GLB gets a choice of four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines from the portfolio of the recently updated B-Class. The entry GLB 200 gets a 1.3-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine with 163 PS and 250 Nm mated to the 7G-DCT seven-speed, dual-clutch, automatic transmission. It also features active cylinder shutoff tech under partial load. The more GLB 250 4MATIC is powered by the 2.0-litre petrol engine capable of churning out 224 PS and 350 Nm, mated to the new 8G-DCT eight-speed automatic. The diesel variants of the GLB-class are all powered by the same 2.0-litre OM 654q engines, which produces 150 PS and 320 Nm in the GLB 200 d and 190 PS and 400 Nm in the GLB 220 d.
The new Mercedes GLB also comes with smart features such as the driving assistance systems which support the driver with automatic inputs from the car’s advanced camera and radar systems, available as an option. Energizing Comfort Control, which uses multiple systems to create a mood, also arrives on the options list. With the Off-Road Engineering Package, the 4MATIC models can also be equipped with a special off-road light that helps detect obstacles immediately in front of the vehicle at low speeds.
We expect to see the new Mercedes GLB launched in India soon following its phased global rollout.
Story: Koustubh Mukherjee
