Recently, buyer’s preference from diesel to petrol propelled most of the car manufacturers to rethink their market strategy for the Indian market. The change has come owing to the diesel ban that was enforced by Apex court of India in Delhi-NCR region for over eight long months. For taking away the ban, in exchange Supreme Court asked to pay an environmental cess on the sale of every diesel car. To avoid cess, Mercedes has launched a petrol powered variant of GLS 400 4MATIC in the country.
Price
The GLS (earlier GL-class) is available at a sticker price of Rs. 82.90 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and will be offered as CBU while local production is expected to commence later.
Engine Details
The new variant houses a 3.0 litre V6 petrol engine that belts out 333bhp power@5250-6000rpm and 480Nm of high torque@1600-4000rpm. The engine is linked to a 9-speed automatic transmission and dynamic select feature which let you choose from five driving modes: Comfort, Sport, Slippery, Individual and Off-road. The huge engine pushes to hit the top speed of 240km/hr.
Space and Dimensions
The 7-seater SUV is renowned for its spaciousness and comfort thanks to the big dimensions. It measures 5130mm in length, 2141mm in width and stands tall with 1850mm height. The GLS 400 4MATIC has a long wheelbase of 3075mm and offers a huge cargo space of 680 liters.
Color
The GLS 400 4MATIC makes its presence in two colors: Polar White and Obsidian Black.
Exterior and Interior
In terms of design, it is identical to the diesel version such as Full LED headlamps with intelligent light system. For features it sports range of luxury and comfort goodies. It gets an 8 inch HD TFT command online display with touch pad controller Smartphone integration and Apple car play, 14 speakers Harmon Kardon 7 audio system claim to deliver 360 degree surround sound. It also get memory package for both front seats, mirror package with brand logo projection, new generation telematics (NTG 5*1), panoramic sunroof etc.
Safety
The GLS 400 4MATIC includes range on active safety features like adaptive two stage airbags for front passengers, side airbags for driver and front seats, pelvis/thorax bags for the middle row seats and window bags across all the rows as standard. Other features include electronic stability program (ESP) with curve dynamic assist and automatic lane-correcting brake actuation, cruise control, electronic all wheel drive traction system, airmatic suspension with adaptive dampening system, pre-safe, passive occupant protection system with electronic crumple zones, BAS brake assist, three-point safety belts on all seven seats, downhill speed regulation, active parking assist with Parktronic and 360 degree camera.
Mr. Roland Folger, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India commented, “With the launch of the GLS 400 4MATIC, we have now completed our petrol portfolio for the Indian market. The introduction of the GLS 400 4MATIC is a strategic move as it gives the customers the flexibility to choose between the petrol and the diesel variants of their popular SUV. The GLS offers its occupants class leading luxury experience that no other full-size luxury SUV can match in this segment. This is also the fifth SUV variant we introduced this year, further bolstering our SUV portfolio which remains the most comprehensive in the luxury car segment. Our SUV segment has seen the maximum growth for the past two years and we are confident that this trend will continue.”
