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Mercedes-Benz has now fully revealed the car it wants to take on BMW's highly successful X6 'Sports Activity Coupé' - the GLE, which it will show off to the public at January's Detroit Auto Show.
Based on the current ML-Class, the GLE has a more muscular, curvy body with a sharply sloping rear end - strikingly similar to BMW's X6 with similar effects on rear seat and boot space.
That said, it still has a substantial 1,650-litre boot if you fold the rear seats down and no shortage of grunt for hauling large items around - the core 350 CDI V6 diesel model has a healthy 258hp and a new nine-speed automatic gearbox. There will also be a 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbo petrol '400' model and a range-topping 367hp AMG 450. All get permanent four-wheel drive. The diesel and GLE 400 petrol get a 50:50 front:rear torque split while the AMG version gets a rear-biased four-wheel drive setup.
Keeping things on the sporty side is Merc's new Dynamic Select system, which allows the driver to choose between Individual, Comfort, Slippery, Sport and Sport + modes - options that change not just the throttle and damping but also the engine note, lighting and instrument display. There's also a new active damper system to go with the Airmatic air suspension and an Active Curve system that uses moving anti-roll bars to alternately soften out the ride, or firm up the suspension as needed.
The official word:
"The GLE 450 AMG Coupé is our first sports model, and further highly emotional and performance-oriented models will follow in the near future. The new product line from Mercedes-AMG has allowed us to make true sports car technology and the fascination of motorsports more accessible," says Tobias Moers, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-AMG GmbH. "Every vehicle from Affalterbach honours the brand promise of Driving Performance."
Sales will start next summer.
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