Mercedes-Benz announced last week that they will preview the GLA Crossover as a concept vehicle at the Shanghai Auto Show next month. It will then launch a production version of the compact crossover at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.
The GLA is based on the German automakers front-wheel drive MFA platform and will be one of the five sub-Rs 25 lakh category vehicles that Mercedes plans to introduce in the Indian market by 2015. It has launched the B-Class tourer in September 2012 and will launch the A-Class hatchback in June. The CLA compact sedan that was previewed at the Detroit Auto Show will reach our shores in mid- 2014.
The GLA will mostly be powered by the same set of engines that sit in the other MFA based cars. This means a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in various states tune ranging from 122bhp to 211bhp and a diesel mill of the same capacity producing 170bhp. Power will be transmitted to the wheels via a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox and the (optional) 4matic four-wheel drive system.
There will also be a top-of-the line AMG version called the GLA45AMG and will use the same 2.0-litre engine but with a power output of 330bhp. We can expect the interiors to be pretty much the same as the other cars in the MFA family, save for a few crossover specific changes.
Mercedes-Benz chief Dieter Zetsche, while making the announcement about the GLA-Class also said that they were working on another large vehicle and that their Alabama plant (home of the G-Class) was being prepared to produce this model.
Source: Motor Authority
