Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz became the people to re-introduce the SUV the the public when they created the M-Class SUV almost ten years ago. The M-Class gave you the luxury and elegance you wanted from a vehicle with only a little more then the competition. Mercedes had done it, they had started a trend and no one could stop them.

After ten years the M-Class has become more popular and because of that its price has increased almost $10,000 and is great competition for vehicles like the BMW X5 and the Acura MDX. Mercedes hasn’t been hiding the fact that a small crossover SUV expected to be named GLK and priced in the $35,000 range is on the way, and now that we’ve seen some very clear photos, we’re pretty excited about the future of the vehicle.

Thanks to higher gas prices, mid-range SUVs no longer sell well unless they’re fuel efficient. Mercedes has long offered fuel efficient diesel engines in a variety of models, and we’re expecting them to drop one of its excellent 3.0 liter V6 CDI diesel engines from the M-Class (among others) under the GLK’s hood.

Diesel motors are a relatively simple way to achieve high miles per gallon and the newer motors are very clean-running. Although smaller than the original M-Class, the GLK should compare favorably to Acura’s new RDX, BMW’s existing and underrated X3, Saab’s upcoming 9-4x and even Volkswagen’s upcoming Tiguan.

From the spy photos, we can see the GLK really takes a “Baby GL” look to it, not surprising since the ‘K’ in its name stands for kurz, the German word for short. A tall, upright greenhouse, flat sides and a prominent Mercedes grille will give it a distinctive look when it’s introduced, likely this fall in Frankfurt, Germany.

In addition to the diesel engine, the North American market should expect Mercedes’ gas 3.5 V6 and, hopefully, an AMG-tuned V8. The GLK is based on Mercedes’ excellent and all-new 2008 C-Class, so we have admittedly high expectations for the crossover.