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2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB Starts Testing With Production Body

Last month we were informing you that Mercedes-Benz has finally quietly started to test an all-new SUV, which will go by the name of GLB-Class.
2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB 19 photos
Photo: S.Baldauf/SB-Medien
2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype2018 Mercedes-Benz GLB prototype
Approximately three weeks later, a pre-production prototype of the GLB compact SUV has appeared up in front of spy photo lenses once again. This time, it's no longer hidden from prying eyes using the modified body of its smaller brother, the GLA-Class, but its own, heavily dressed in camouflage.

Our spy photographers' first take was that they were looking at the next generation of the GLE, but a closer examination of the resulting photos told us something else. What you're looking at in the attached photo gallery is the sixth SUV in the future Mercedes-Benz range – or the eight if you're also counting the GLE Coupe and GLC Coupe crossovers.

Comparing its size on the road to models like that blue Skoda Octavia Combi, the GLC in the background and even that black smart fortwo, it becomes apparent that this prototype is a hell of a lot smaller than the M-Class/GLE-Class.

Set to be based on the MFA2 platform, which will be an evolution of the current MFA (Modular Front-wheel-drive Architecture), the all-new GLB will be situated between the GLA and the GLC regarding dimensions.

Unlike the GLA, the new model will feature a more off-road and family oriented design, despite being based on a similar architecture. This means that Mercedes-Benz took notes from BMW and the latest X1 and decided to keep the GLA in a more fashionable crossover segment, while its slightly bigger brother will be a true compact SUV.

Expect a broad range of turbocharged four-cylinder mills (diesel and gasoline), with the vast majority being part of a new modular engine family with 500cc cylinders. The smallest diesels will be borrowed from Renault, just like in the current Mercedes-Benz compact models.

The GLB should be officially unveiled by the end of 2017, as a 2018 model, and if our sources are correct, it will be the first Mercedes-Benz model to benefit from the MFA2 platform we mentioned earlier. It biggest rivals will be the BMW X1, Audi Q3 and the five-door version of the Range Rover Evoque. Elementary, an AMG variant is also in planning, but should debut later in 2018.
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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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