What's the news?
If you've ever wondered what the answer is to the question 'how many people can you cram into a Mercedes A-Class?', then it's 'seven' - because here's confirmation that the German company is going to put the seven-seat GLB crossover/SUV into production, just two months after it revealed it as a concept car at the Auto Shanghai show in China.
Exterior
The GLB was inevitable, as one in three Mercedes-Benz cars sold worldwide is now an SUV and one in four a compact model - so this thing merges the two together. It measures 4,634mm long, 1,834mm wide and 1,658mm tall, with a 2,829mm wheelbase being 100mm longer than that of the latest B-Class. Mercedes is proud of the GLB's short overhangs front and rear, the rising shoulder-line after of the C-pillar and the fact the doors overlap the sills, meaning ingress and egress won't resulting in dirty trousers/skirts etc. An optional Off-Road Engineering Package on 4Matic models sees the Multibeam LED headlamps employed in clever ways to illuminate rough terrain, while the cornering-light function remains permanently on below 50km/h. Gorden Wagener, chief design officer at Daimler AG, said: "Its iconic design lends the Mercedes-Benz GLB an unmistakable SUV character. The clear forms with reduced lines and powerful surfaces convey our design philosophy of Sensual Purity."
Interior
A tall glasshouse and long wheelbase allow the GLB to offer 1,035mm of headroom in the front two seats and 967mm of legroom in the second row, while people of up to 1m 68cm (that's about 5ft 6in) can use seats six and seven in row three, according to Mercedes. These are an option, mind, so with them folded away in the boot or with just a five-seat GLB specified, boot capacity stands at 560 litres. This can rise to 1,755 litres with the second row of seats folded away too.
Anyone sitting in those rearmost pair of seats will get two drinks holders, curtain airbags in the event of an accident, ISOFIX tethers for child seats (making for four ISOFIX fittings in total in a seven-seat GLB) and a couple of USB ports as well. Other than that, up front the GLB employs familiar modern Mercedes cabin architecture, such as the MBUX infotainment system with Widescreen Cockpit and round turbine-effect air vents.
Mechanicals
From the off, the Mercedes GLB will get an array of four-cylinder turbocharged petrol and diesel engines. As yet, fuel economy, CO2 emissions, 0-100km/h times and top speeds are not confirmed, but we at least know outputs and badging. For the petrol models, there's a 1.33-litre unit with 163hp/250Nm in the GLB 200 (which also has cylinder shutoff to save fuel during light engine loads) and then a 2.0-litre 224hp/350Nm motor for the GLB 250. Moving over to diesels, extended exhaust-gas after-treatment means the two engines here are already up to Real Driving Emissions level 2 standards, which are not obligatory until next year, so choose without concern either the GLB 200 d, with 150hp/320Nm, or the GLB 220 d with 190hp/400Nm. Both use the newer 'OM654' engine, with 2.0-litre capacity.
All GLBs are automatics, with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission almost universal fit, except on the GLB 200 where a seven-speed item is the gearbox. Only the diesel models can be had with 4Matic all-wheel drive, the 220 d coming with it as standard while the 200 d is available with either front-wheel drive or 4Matic as an option. On models fitted with 4Matic, using Dynamic Select in the cabin will alter the front-to-rear torque split, from 80:20 in Eco or Comfort modes, to 70:30 in Sport and then 50:50 for Off-Road.
That Off-Road Engineering Package doesn't just bring in fancy lighting, but it also adds the Off-Road setting noted above, as well as extra animations in the media display (showing gradient, inclination angle and technical settings for off-roading) and Downhill Speed Regulation (DSR, Merc's variation on Hill Descent Control). For most of the time the GLB will spend on metalled surfaces, though, there's a full array of driving assistance systems, such as Distronic radar cruise control, Active Parking Assist with Parktronic and Active Lane Change Assist, as well as the option to specify adaptive dampers if needs be.
Anything else?
There are now eight models in the Mercedes small cars family - the A-Class hatchback, the A-Class Saloon, the A-Class Saloon Long-Wheelbase (purely for China), the B-Class, the CLA, the CLA Shooting Brake, the GLA crossover and now the GLB crossover. In 2018, Mercedes sold more than 609,000 vehicles from this selection worldwide and, since 1997, more than 6.5 million Mercedes cars sold have been from the smaller segment.