It’s raining crossovers in the Indian automobile market, and there are quite a few premium crossovers too, from brands like Audi, BMW and Volvo. Of the premium crossovers, Audi ruled the market with the Q3 and Mercedes-Benz was the only one of the German Trio, who did not have a crossover in their portfolio and because of this, they were losing a majority of their customers to Audi and BMW and the boffins at Mercedes-Benz were not happy with this, and so decided to launch the GLA crossover in India.
Mercedes-Benz GLA Crossover (spied) – SideView
The Mercedes Benz GLA Crossover was first revealed at the 2013 Frankfurt auto show, and since then, the engineers at Mercedes-Benz have been working hard on the crossover in order to make it production ready and now, it is almost ready and will be launched in a few days. The GLA is based on Mercedes-Benz’s MFA(Mercedes front wheel Architecture) platform, the very same platform underpinning the A-Class. The GLA also looks very similar to the A-Class in terms of design, but it is very different. The GLA gets a higher ground clearance than the A-Class, and the GLA also gets body cladding and roof rails to give it an SUV-ish stance and even skid plates to protect the underbody of the vehicle.
The interiors of the GLA too will be very similar to that of the A-Class, with the chunky, leather clad three-spoke steering wheel, SLS AMG inspired air-conditioning vents and gear selector. Even the dashboard and the COMAND screen in the center will be a direct lift from the A-Class.
Mercedes-Benz GLA Crossover (spied) – RearView
The GLA, in India will be available only in the 220 CDI variant, which is a diesel engine powered variant. The engine which will be used is, a 2,143cc turbo-diesel with a max power output of 167 HP and a max torque output of 350 NM, and the power will be transmitted to the front wheels via a 7-speed automatic Dual-Clutch gearbox. it remains to be seen if Mercedes-Benz would launch the 4-MATIC, all-wheel drive variant of the GLA in the future.
The GLA will be launched in India within a few days, and the Mercedes-Benz dealerships in India have already started accepting bookings for the crossover, with a booking amount of Rs. 1 lakh and deliveries are expected to commence by September or October. The GLA will initially be imported via the CBU(completely built Unit) route, which is sure to push prices to the sky, but it will eventually be locally assembled depending on the demand.
To read more on Mercedes-Benz India, Click here
Also see – Mercedes-Benz plans for onslaught of new models in 2014
See more spied pictures of Mercedes Benz GLA crossover –
Source – IndianAutosBlog
