And before you ask, yes, it will make production.
Let’s face it, Mercedes-Benz’s ultimate expression of the SUV, the G-Wagen, is one seriously expensive machine. And if you look beneath it towards the rest of the range, you’re met with high-riding wagons that, while pretty, don’t quite express the same kind of machismo and robustness that the mac-daddy has in spades.
To that end, Mercedes has come up with this, the GLB. Or rather the GLB Concept, which aims to sort-of warm sentiment around the idea of a roughty-toughty little Merc before it actually lands, as we already know the GLB is already well into its prototype testing phase.
Exterior-wise it’s not a particularly large machine, taking up only a bit more space than a B-Class hatch. But because of its boxy proportions and longer wheelbase there’s an abundance of room inside, with space for 7 adults (claimed) within the “robust” shell. Speaking of which we’d like you to very quickly ignore the roof-mounted spotlights and cargo carrier, and the 17-inch alloys wrapped in chunky BFGoodrich tyres. That’s just motor show flotsam.
Equally-motorshow is the interior, though not all of it is look-at-me and non-functional. The dash design for example is right out of the small-Mercedes catalogue, replete with its dual 12.3-inch screens running MBUX beneath. Same goes for the extensive ambient lighting setup, and triple-vent centre climate control design. The open-pore wood could, but may not make production, and neither will the brown leather/suede combo and its orange-contrast inserts.
What is surprisingly not-motorshow is the powertrain. While the GLB Concept obviously doesn’t carry the usual production nomenclature, the 2.0-litre turbo and its officially-rated 165kW output is suspiciously similar to the A250 hatchback. That said, the GLB is said to carry a proper all-wheel drive system (with a front-wheel drive bias normally), though an off-road mode can split power equally between the axles.
While the GLB Concept is just an Auto Shanghai concept right now, as we said earlier, the GLB is a car that we know Mercedes-Benz has been working on for a while. Considering Mercedes’ tactics with the GLA back in 2013, where it arrived in Shanghai as a concept before it was shown at Frankfurt as a production car ahead of legitimate deliveries early the following year, it’s possible that the GLB will adopt a similar timeline.
So is this the baby-G that you’ve been waiting for, or does the GLB still not scratch that itch convincingly? Let us know in the comments below.
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