GLA 200d Facelift Prototype Spied on a Trailer Pulled by a Mercedes Truck

The black test prototype must have been filmed at least once before, but never like this. It's sitting on a trailer pulled by a big Mercedes truck. We can only presume that's a convoy on its way to the Arctic testing facilities.

The A- and B-Class facelifts have been around for quite a while. In fact, development of the next generation A-Class is well on its way. But the GLA might have a prolonged life cycle. One possible reason is that the development team is busy with the GLB.

This is a more practical crossover model which is said to take on the appearance of the G-Class and might even replace the B-Class altogether. But that doesn't explain why the development of the GLA facelift is being stretched so much time.

We can only presume that Mercedes has realized the old engines just aren't cutting it anymore and began using longitudinal versions of the 2.0-liter diesel from the E-Class. If this truly is a GLA 200d, it might make the jump from 136 to 150 PS.

That would give it even footing against many rival models like the Audi Q3 2.0 TDI, the MINI Cooper D Countryman (the new one), BMW's X1 xDrive18d, the Tiguan and a few others we might have forgotten.

And these Germans are positively obsessed with 2-liter diesel engines. Every time I say to myself 'but the 1.4 TSI does the same thing' and do an online search, the vast majority of used cars for sale have big diesel engines. Why? Because if you do 40,000km per year crossing the country at nearly 150km/h, you need efficiency and power combined.

As far as the styling is concerned, there are only minor updates here and there. Keyless access, a bigger screen and ambient lighting might freshen up the interior as well.