“Mini G-Class” Mercedes-Benz GLB crisp and charismatic

I told you this was a compact SUV kinda year. I’ve just come back from a launch and next week I am going to bring you another compact SUV story from another launch. People just can’t seem to get enough of them. From practical to stupid fast, every manufacturer is now playing in this segment somewhere in the world.

This week, is a practical premium compact SUV update and it comes in the form of the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLB I got to sample in the south of Spain. Why another compact SUV and why would Mercedes-Benz add another model to their com – pact car family of the existing A-Class Hatch, A-Class Sedan, B-Class, CLA and the GLA? Well, you don’t have to be overly sharp with maths to follow this logic.

In 2018, over 609 000 customers all over the world opted for a compact Mercedes-Benz, and since the first A-Class was launched in 1997, over 7 million vehicles of this segment have been delivered worldwide. The styling of the new GLB seemed to be the biggest talking point on social media during the launch.

The world is seeing less conventional looking SUVs with big lights at the bottom and small lights at the top and then some more lights in the middle up front, all combined with some out-there styling cues. We are also living in a world where there is this crazy impractical thing debuted as a concept – and is called a Tesla Cybertruck that looks like a five-year old designed it with some mechanical Lego. Yet over 200 000 have been pre-ordered. Mercedes-Benz has not quite gone down either road.

The new GLB is typically Mercedes-Benz conventional SUV-styled and looks a whole lot like a compact GLS. I like the styling, especially with the right optional AMG Line body kit and wheels selected. But time will tell how customers, who must hand over their own money for a new GLB, will take to its looks. This was not the main claim to fame of the new GLB. This is the first SUV in this compact segment that gives you the option of a third seat row (seven-seater) as an optional extra with two additional individual seats.

The conventional standard five-seater rear legroom and headroom is more than accept – able and although Mercedes-Benz claims that the two backrow seats can accommodate people of a height of 1.68m comfortably, I would take this with a pinch of salt. For short distances or the school run, sure, but I dare you to ask your wife to sit in the back when you head out on a long trip.

Like one of my colleagues so eloquently puts it, put your dog and wife in the boot of a car, and then see who is happy to see you after an hour. Being a premium offering, your wife or dog’s safety is not ignored in the rear. The extensive safety equipment includes extendible head restraints, seat belts with belt tensioners and belt force limiters on all outer seats, a side-window airbag, which also protects the passengers in the third seat row plus ISOFIX and Top-Tether anchorages for suitable child seats.

Adding some comfort in the third row are two drinks holders between the seats plus stowage compartments with rubberised insert on the left and right in the load compartment trim, each housing a USB port. And if you want to put any sort of luggage, like, say, a colouring book and one crayon, in the seven-seater, you will have to forgo passenger six and seven and drop the seats to get some usable cargo space. The five-seater obviously doesn’t suffer this little issue and the seats can also go flat to add even more cargo space. Versatility is the name of the game with the new GLB.

Before you ask, mommy is not getting the hot GLB 35 AMG version in South Africa. We did get a brief spin in the car and the 225kW/400Nm 2.0-litre was a lot of fun. But at this stage we are only getting the 165kW/350Nm GLB 250 turbo petrol in front-wheel drive and the 4Matic GLB 220d that produces 140kW and 400Nm. Both run a newly developed eight-speed automatic dual clutch transmission and both are smooth and easy to drive briskly should you so desire.

Neither are going to break track records, but I was impressed by the crisp turn in and the lack of understeer and fuss when pushing it a bit. Just as I was impressed with trundling around town in the GLB. And if you really find the need to go do some relatively easy off-roading – and not just gravel road driving – in addition to the off-road light, the off-road engineering package includes an additional drive mode. This mode adapts the power delivery of the engine, the characteristics of 4Matic and ABS intervention control and can be activated via the Dynamic Select switch. This is available in the GLB 220d 4Matic only.

I simply don’t have the space, to get into all the safety and on-board technology fitted to the GLB, but you know you will get the full suite of driving assistance systems to the intuitively operated MBUX infotainment system that is voice control activated with the prompt “Hey, Mercedes”. We will bring you more information and pricing when we get to drive the GLB on local soil next year.

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