The Indian arm of German carmaker Mercedes has launched a power version of its one of the bestselling SUVs in the country, GLE. It is the first instance the GLE 4MATIC is available in petrol engine and it will be initially available via CBU route before Mercedes will commence its local production later this year. The SUV is the 7th product from the German auto giant’s SUV range after Mercedes-Benz S400, Mercedes-AMG SLC 43, Mercedes-AMG GLE 450 Coupe, Mercedes-Maybach S600 Guard, GLC and Mercedes-Benz GLS 350. The newest member in the portfolio sets you back at Rs. 74.50 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).
The NGT’s (National green tribunal) spoiled up company’s vision in the national capital region as due to ban on diesel vehicles above 2000cc, Mercedes was unable to sell even a single diesel powered vehicle. According to Apex court’s new decision to lift the ban was the implementation of 1 percent of green cess which results in increase in prices. Then one of the fastest growing luxury carmaker in India was prompted to assess the customer’s demand towards petrol and hence decided to throw petrol engine in its highest selling SUV.
Engine Details:
Under the hood we find a 3.0 litre V6 Petrol engine that makes 329bhp@5250-6000rpm and high torque of 480Nm between 1600-4000rpm. Sending power to all wheels via 4MATIC system, the engine is linked to a 7G Tronic plus automatic gearbox. Besides, the SUV gets five driving modes-Comfort, sport, Slippery, individual and off-road. The top speed stands at 247km/hr.
Exterior and Interior:
In terms of design, it identical to the other two diesel model on sale while features list include an 8 inch infotainment system sporting command online with telematics, navigation, internet, Wi-Fi hotspot and Mercedes apps. You also get three spoke multi function steering wheel, logo projection lamps on wing mirrors, full LED headlamps, electric sunroof, front memory seats, Apple car play and Harmon Kardon 7 surround audio system with 360 degree acoustic experience.
One of the highlights is AIRMATIC air suspension with adaptive dampening, which increases the ground clearance to a maximum of 232mm and automatically lowers lower the suspension by 15mm during high speeds.
Safety:
The SUV comes loaded up to the brim of safety equipments such as six airbags including adaptive front airbags, side bags for driver and front passenger and also window air bags between A, B and C-pillars. Other features on board are 360 degree camera with active parking assist, ABS, EBD, attention assist, crosswind assist, brake assist, electronic stability program (ESP), automatic locking of doors with emergency opening, electronic engine immobilizer and central locking with crash sensor.
Mr. Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “Mercedes-Benz has the most comprehensive luxury SUV portfolio in the country. With the launch of the GLE 400 4MATIC, our discerning customers will now have the option of choosing between the petrol and the diesel version of our highest selling SUV. The GLE has been the highest selling SUV ever and with a growing penchant for SUVs among customers, we believe the introduction of the petrol version will further bolster our presence in the luxury SUV segment. For the first time, we are introducing the GLE with a petrol mill and this underscores our strategy of offering the right product for our growing customer base. This is the fourth SUV we have introduced this year and with this variant, we now offer our bestselling SUV in 4 different options, GLE 250 d, GLE 350 d, GLE 400 and the dynamic GLE 450 AMG Coupe.”
