Photo: Stefan Baldauf / SB-Medien
After the GLK - a.k.a. Geländewagen Luxus Kompaktklasse - ran its course, Mercedes rolled out the GLC in 2015 to much critical acclaim. Codenamed X253, the compact crossover is the company’s best-selling nameplate worldwide, which is why the X254 isn’t going to stray off from the winning design formula of the current-gen model when it launches for the 2023 model year back home in Europe, the U.S., and everywhere else.
Spied with less camouflage than before at the automaker’s technical center in Germany, the GLC features a remarkably similar profile, front, and rear to the X253. The details make the differences, starting with the lighting signature of the headlights and taillights. This prototype also reveals an independent rear suspension and a somewhat flat undercarriage, along with a more generous front grille, black window garnish, and chrome-finish roof rails.
The most straightforward way of telling the X254 apart from the previous generation is the door-mounted side mirrors, a design motif that isn’t shared with the C-Class compact executive sedan although they’re based on the same platform. MRA 2 is how Merc refers to the rear- and all-wheel-drive architecture, and just like the W206, the GLC is going to get rid of every six- and eight-cylinder option in favor of a four-cylinder engine lineup.
“You mean the V8 of the 63 series is going away in favor of a plug-in hybrid four-pot snoozefest?” I’m afraid that’s exactly the case, dearest reader, and I can’t blame the Stuttgart-based automaker for it because PHEV assistance for the M 139 engine of the 45 series will translate to V8 levels of horsepower and torque. The C 63 will reportedly get 550 metric ponies, 800 Nm (590 pound-feet), and weigh close to 2,000 kilograms (4,409 pounds).
Just like the fifth-gen C, the GLC will sweeten the deal with high-tech infotainment in the guise of MBUX with over-the-air updates, a color head-up display, fingerprint scanner, voice assistant that’s capable of recognizing the vehicle’s occupants by their voices, and plenty more whatnots.
The most straightforward way of telling the X254 apart from the previous generation is the door-mounted side mirrors, a design motif that isn’t shared with the C-Class compact executive sedan although they’re based on the same platform. MRA 2 is how Merc refers to the rear- and all-wheel-drive architecture, and just like the W206, the GLC is going to get rid of every six- and eight-cylinder option in favor of a four-cylinder engine lineup.
“You mean the V8 of the 63 series is going away in favor of a plug-in hybrid four-pot snoozefest?” I’m afraid that’s exactly the case, dearest reader, and I can’t blame the Stuttgart-based automaker for it because PHEV assistance for the M 139 engine of the 45 series will translate to V8 levels of horsepower and torque. The C 63 will reportedly get 550 metric ponies, 800 Nm (590 pound-feet), and weigh close to 2,000 kilograms (4,409 pounds).
Just like the fifth-gen C, the GLC will sweeten the deal with high-tech infotainment in the guise of MBUX with over-the-air updates, a color head-up display, fingerprint scanner, voice assistant that’s capable of recognizing the vehicle’s occupants by their voices, and plenty more whatnots.
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