Thanks to Covid-19, car sales are on the floor, but even so Mercedes is bringing its GLA compact SUV to showrooms across Ireland in the hope it will hit the spot when the crisis is over.
The company claims that the new GLA car has “the good looks and choice of features likely to make it a winner in its sector”, and will fit in the ‘sporty, lifestyle-oriented’ slot with the carmaker’s existing family of SUVs.
The new model will have extra space inside, being 100mm taller and thus providing extra headroom, and more legroom for the rear seat passengers even though the car is shorter by 15mm.
The engines available include four petrol and three diesel versions. Petrol models are a 1.3-litre 163hp GLA 200, a 2-litre, 224hp GLA 250, and GLA 250 4MATIC.
The high-performance AMG GLA 35 and AMG GLA 45 will also be available in diesel versions, all 1.9-litres — a 150hp GLA 200d, GLA 200d 4-MATIC and a 190hp GLA 220d, and GLA 220d 4MATIC. In the pipeline is a 180d 1.5-litre diesel and a plug-in petrol electric variant.
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Ciaran Allen, sales manager for Mercedes-Benz passenger cars in Ireland, commented: “The arrival of the new GLA is being supported with attractive price and purchase finance arrangements pitched competitively against those of its main rivals and broadly in harmony with those of its predecessor.”
The car’s most visually striking feature is a free-standing driver instrumentation and infotainment display that frames the view almost from door-to-door (pictured below). Inside there's the MBUX infotainment system and the voice activated ‘Hey Mercedes’ driver assistance, with touch-control pads mounted on the steering wheel.
More typical of an SUV, the seating position for driver and front passenger is higher than in the previous model and more upright, while all-round visibility has also been improved. Ventilation outlets and air guidance vanes have a high-quality turbine look. Rear seats come with 40:20:40 split. Standard is a height-adjustable load floor that, when set in the correct position with rear seat backrests folded down, can be transformed into an almost flat loading area extending to the front seats.
There’s a plethora of safety features too, including automatic inputs to assist drivers with routine and emergency braking, distance control, parking, steering, lane keeping, blind spot observation, speed limit keeping, driver fatigue alerts, and more.
There’s a tricksy feature too. At the carwash, a single command means exterior mirrors fold inwards, side windows and sliding roof close, rain sensor is suppressed and other settings disabled — all of which are automatically deactivated when the car leaves the carwash.
