Mercedes-Benz has now fully revealed the car it wants to take on BMW's highly successful X6 'Sports Activity Coupé' - the GLE, which it will show off to the public at January's Detroit Auto Show.
Based on the current ML-Class, the GLE has a more muscular, curvy body with a sharply sloping rear end - strikingly similar to BMW's X6 with similar effects on rear seat and boot space.
That said, it still has a substantial 1,650-litre boot if you fold the rear seats down and no shortage of grunt for hauling large items around - the core 350 CDI V6 diesel model has a healthy 258hp and a new nine-speed automatic gearbox. There will also be a 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol '400' model and a range-topping 367hp AMG 450. All get permanent four-wheel drive. The diesel and GLE 400 petrol get a 50:50 front:rear torque split while the AMG version gets a rear-biased four-wheel drive setup.
Keeping things on the sporty side is Merc's new Dynamic Select system, which allows the driver to choose between Individual, Comfort, Slippery, Sport and Sport + modes - options that change not just the throttle and damping but also the engine note, lighting and instrument display. There's also a new active damper system to go with the Airmatic air suspension and an Active Curve system that uses moving anti-roll bars to alternately soften out the ride, or firm up the suspension as needed.
Anything else?
"The GLE 450 AMG Coupé is our first sports model, and further highly emotional and performance-oriented models will follow in the near future. The new product line from Mercedes-AMG has allowed us to make true sports car technology and the fascination of motorsports more accessible," says Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. "Every vehicle from Affalterbach honours the brand promise of Driving Performance."
Sales will start next summer.