While the AMG GLE Coupe looks sleek and sporty like most other AMGs it is fair to say the new AMG GLB, unveiled just a day later, does not. A spiritual brother to the AMG version of the G-Wagen, it’s surely one of the most unlikely AMGs ever.
The GLB is the off-roady version of the B-Class, what before SUV mania hit would have been called an MPV. It is still MPV at heart with its upright styling, big windows, seven high-set seats, cupholders and cubbyholes. For most of the time it’s even front-wheel-drive. But as the GLB 4Matic it goes with the zeitgeist and thinks it’s an off-roader, and now as the AMG GLB it gets a sizeable performance makeover and thinks it’s a sports car. Question is, does it all come together?
A verdict on that will have to wait for the first drive, but, typically for a variant born of the huge and well-regarded new A-class family, the signs are good – as long as you like its design, that is. Meet the family wagon with Race Start mode…
Mercedes’ take on the car – the first-ever AMG B-class variant – is that it combines versatility with space and driving pleasure and as such is unrivalled in its class. True enough, we can’t think of another seven-seater this fast in the compact class. How fast? Faster than that other AMG SUV unveiled this week, unlikely as that might seem.