Mercedes-Benz has officially said that its upcoming compact SUV will hit showrooms by the end of this year. The GLB will be the first compact luxury SUV to get three-row seating and could occupy seven passengers. The entry-level five-seater variant in Europe will be priced at € 37,746.80 (approximately ₹ 30.20 lakh in Indian currency) while the third row individual retractable seats will cost € 1309 (approximately ₹ 1.07 lakh) more.
The new GLB gets a range of Mercedes’ latest features and equipment including the new MBUX infotainment system and the comfort control functionality. Under the hood, it gets the OM 654q 2-litre, four-cylinder engine which already complies with the 2 RDE (Real Drive Emission) requirements coming into force in Europe in 2020. This also entails that the model is future proof for the Indian market and meets the upcoming BS6 emission norms as well. The 2-liter engine in the GLB belts out 218 bhp and 350 Nm of peak torque and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show this year, the Stuttgart based automaker will also unveil the hotter AMG version of the SUV. The Mercedes-AMG GLB will use the same 2.0-liter, Four-Cylinder, Turbocharged engine but we are still not sure if it will be tuned for the 35 nomenclature or for the even more powerful AMG 45 badge. The engine will churn out 298 bhp in the AMG 35 iteration while the power output will be upgraded to over 400 bhp in the AMG 45 iteration.