New Mercedes-Benz GLB Looks to bring 7th-Heaven to Families Nationwide

Being the first of twenty-two new offerings in 2020, the Mercedes-Benz GLB SUV arrives here early next year, coming in a 7-seater version that is likely to prove attractive to families with children to transport.

Range and Price

GLB models and prices likely to form the range offering in Ireland will be announced closer to the arrival date. According to Ciaran Allen, sales manager for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars: “with every third Mercedes-Benz now an SUV, and every fourth a compact car, our intention will be to launch GLB with the most competitive package possible, tagging affordable prices to high-level specifications in a way that will appeal to families”.

Welcome to the Family

This new GLB joins the current eight-strong Mercedes-Benz compact car family, alongside the A-Class, (Hard to believe that the A-Class was introduced twenty-two years ago), A-Class Saloon, B-Class, CLA Coupé, CLA Shooting Brake and GLA. In offering a third row, the additional two bucket seats are both fully retractable, provide comfortable seating for passengers up to a height of 1.68m. The second-row seats split 40:60.

The GLB has a wheelbase of 2,829 millimetres, front headroom is 1,069mm, with 967mm rear legroom in the five-seat version.

The GLB has the look of a sturdy off-roader, albeit never loses the on-road bias, it comes with short overhangs, front and rear, plus optional 4MATIC all-wheel drive and a special off-road light which helps detect obstacles in front of the vehicle at low speeds.

Design & Equipment

Three design and equipment lines, Style, Progressive and AMG, are available to the new owner, the various GLB model options also include a Night Package in which high-gloss black highlights are applied give it a distinctive allure. An exclusive boldly coloured Edition 1 model is also available in the first year after market launch.

Inside, GLB will have a distinctly high-quality interior whose off-road design influences are reflected in its instrumentation and controls elements, steering column, aluminium-look dashboard, doors and centre console highlights.

MBUX & Consoles

The GLB is fitted with the MBUX user experience system, other features include two 7-inch instrument cluster and media displays with touch screen facility; a sports steering wheel with touch control buttons, and a USB port and Bluetooth connection for telephone and audio. Optional feel-good comfort elements include lighting, musical moods and seat massages features.

Camera & Radar systems

Driver assistance systems include camera and radar systems that can scan the road up to 500 metres ahead and drive in semi-automated mode whereby, in certain situations, speed can adjust ahead of bends, junctions or roundabouts aided by map, navigation and distance information data. Optional lighting and adaptive main beam features enhance the offering, especially in off-road and rough terrain driving.

Two suspension variants

The GLB is equipped with comfort suspension with steel springs as standard. Optionally available is Adaptive Damping whereby a valve in each of the four shock absorbers can be electronically actuated to control oil flow and enable the driver to choose the preferred damping characteristics.

Engines

Updated four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines are on the GLB menu;

Petrol models – all with 7G/8G automatic transmission:

• GLB 200 (1332cc/Nm 250 torque)
• GLB 250 (1991cc/Nm 350)
• GLB35 4MATIC AMG (1991cc/Nm 400). 

Diesel models – all 1950cc with 8G automatic transmission – are:

• GLB 180d (Nm 280 torque)
• GLB 200d (Nm 320)
• GLB 220d 4MATIC (Nm 320)
• GLB 220d 4MATIC (Nm 400)

All engines are certified to Euro 6d and geared to meet RDE (Real Driving Emissions) Stage 2 requirements.