EQA on fast boat to NZ

Mercedes’ second electric car has been unveiled – and it’s coming here soon.

 KIWIS keen to express their electric car enthusiasm from behind a three-pointed star won’t have too long to wait for the EQA unveiled to the world overnight.

Mercedes Benz New Zealand says it expects the wholly battery-compelled small sports utility will be here in mid-2021, with a front-drive, single motor EQA 250 derivative leading the introduction.  

The Auckland-based operation says information about pricing and specification of what will stand as the first compact premium electric crossover on the market will become available closer to the car’s release.

Effectively an all-electric version of the GLA small SUV – it’s based on a modified version of the platform currently used by that car and the A Class - the introductory edition presents with a single electric motor located on the front axle and feeding from a 66.5kWh battery pack.

The powertrain develops 140kW of power and 375Nm of torque and promises 426km range on the New Zealand-recognised WLTP scale (or 486km on the outmoded NEDC rating). 

The maker vouches a 0-100kmh sprint time of 8.9 seconds and cites an electronically-limited top speed of 160kmh.

The slightly slovenly step-off seems a repercussion of the podgy kerb weight, an unavoidable with battery inclusion.

At 2040kg the model weighs some 555kg more than a front-drive, petrol-powered GLA 200, which runs a 120kW/250Nm 1.3-litre turbo petrol and achieves the legal open road limit from a standing start in 8.6 seconds. 

The EQA line-up is set to expand with a twin-motor, all-wheel drive variant that will much snappier: Some are saying 0-100kmh in five seconds. The company has told media in Europe it’ll generate “more than 200kW” and also have 500Nm of torque.

Meantime, Benz says the EQA 250 will take 30 minutes to reach 80 percent capacity using a 100kW fast-charging station.

EQA is the second full electric for Mercedes here, following the much larger $142,900 EQC that holds status as the 2020 New Zealand car of the year, as awarded by the New Zealand motoring Writers’ Guild, and is the first of six new EQ-branded electric vehicles to arrive before the end of 2022.

EQC also shares DNA with a combustion-engined model, the GLE sports utility, but that convenience isn’t a long-term pitch; other incoming Benz electrics are going to be on a bespoke platform.

Mercedes assures that using the GLA/A-Class underpinning for EQA has not required any particular compromise. It says adapting the chassis to make space for an electric motor and a battery pack under the vehicle’s floor was straightforward, as it was always designed for an electric application.

The GLA’s platform was, however, extensively strengthened to support the added weight of the battery pack. Also, new under-floor cross members were implemented under the floor and the car achieves a guard for the front of the battery pack to prevent it from being punctured in the event of an accident.

In an effort to squeeze the maximum possible amount of range out of the car’s battery pack, Mercedes’s engineers paid particular attention to the EQA’s shape when it was on the drawing board.

Hence, while it obviously has strong familial association with the GLA and A-Class, the electric model’s association with EQC is probably equally if not more patent. As with the larger model, the lines have been softened and the  frontal area has been made as smooth as possible, to improve the aero. This is also why the car’s underside is also completely enclosed by an undertray. The end result is a drag coefficient of just 0.28Cd.

Mercedes’ next electric models seem set to be the EQB, a seven-seater sports utility, and the EQS, a high-end all-electric luxury alternate the marque’s traditional flagship, the S-class. Mercedes recently showed off a full-width digital dashboard, it calls the hyperscreen, that will go into the EQS.

EQC becomes latest NZ COTY star

For a second year running, an electric car wins the nation’s top motoring prize.

Lance Bennett, general manager of Mercedes Benz Cars New Zealand, with the 2020 New Zealand Car of the Year, represented by the Peter Greenslade Trophy, and the EQC.

NEW Zealand Car of the Year 2020 is the Mercedes EQC, the big premium sports utility becoming the third electric vehicle to take this annual accolade.

An award that is in its 33rd year first took an electric turn in 2015, with the BMW i3 being recognised.

Last year the title went to the Jaguar i-Pace, which also operates wholly off the mains.

That run means three of the six most recent winners, including today’s, have been electric.

Richard Edwards, president of the New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild, the organisation behind New Zealand Car of the Year, says the recognition for the $142,000 Mercedes sends a strong signal about electrification’s place in the future for motoring in New Zealand.

Though all the electric cars to so far gain this recognition have come from premium makes and two sell in the $100,000-plus executive sector, he contends the EQC’s placement is an example of how, in some segments, electric vehicles are nearing price parity with their petrol and diesel counterparts.

“If you look at where the EQC fits into the broader Mercedes-Benz range on size, specification and performance, its price is not out of place at all.”

He also anticipates many more electrified vehicles to follow it as New Zealand Car of the Year and notes that this year’s announcement follows a watershed time, with the Government announcing a ‘Climate Emergency’ and pushing for an increasing uptake of electrified vehicles, including in its own fleets.

The award was decided by a voting process involving two dozen Guild members who actively road test vehicles, with 10 cars making the final cut for consideration.

The others were the Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris , Audi Q3, Kia Seltos, Land Rover Defender, Mazda CX-30, Mercedes-Benz GLB, Peugeot 2008 and Skoda Kamiq.

EQC shaking strife as sister ships announced

A slower local start than expected for Benz’s electric division pathfinder model hasn’t diminished distributor belief in this broadening power play.

Yet to be unwrapped but all almost certainly due to present in New Zealand - here are three future EQ models under test.

MORE electric cars are coming from Mercedes – and, once supply constraints are lifted, more effort is going to be put into achieving additional market involvement for the one already here.

 In acknowledging interest in the six additional EQ models that the parent brand has confirmed, Mercedes Benz New Zealand has also confirmed it would love to have seen more than 23 registrations to date for the EQC that has been available since January and presently is the sole standard bearer for the brand’s electric mobility division.

The modest count – which places the model at level pegging with the Tesla Model S and Kia Niro as the country’s 11th most popular brand-new electric cars represented by distributors – is not down to consumer disinterest, the local operator insists. 

Quite the opposite. Definite buy-in is perceived for the NZ edition, provisioned as a EQC 400 4matic, costing $142,900.

However, emergent constraints on the medium-sized sports utility’s production and availability has hindered local distribution and been a blow given that New Zealand was among the first countries in the world to receive the EQC.

Even though the production rate of this car (and others) has picked up in recent months, the supply chain has yet to recover.

restricted supply has pegged back the EQC sales expectation - but more cars are coming.

Interestingly, Benz refuses to specifically cite the coronavirus pandemic as being the big issue; though it obviously has been for all car makers.

Nonetheless, the Auckland-based outfit has seen few cars arrive since securing an initial shipment to time with national release at the start of the year. 

“The EQC has been a success for us so far in New Zealand, selling out all available units,” a local spokesman said.

“We knew that the supply ramp up would take time due to the global demand for the vehicle, and we look forward to fulfilling more of the current customer demand in the near future.”

 The car will be subject to more intense push soon; a shipment of additional stock is reportedly already en route. A fresh push seems set to be timed for the start of 2021.

 The renewed campaign will ultimately potentially time with the emergent availability of more EQ family members, confirmed by head office just this week. 

Germany has cited six new full-electrics as being incoming for production, four of which will be underpinned by a new modular platform still under development.

The NZ office has shied from saying when the cars might avail here.

EV uptake in New Zealand is still modest.

“We’re optimistic and excited about the growth of the EV portfolio and we hope to bring these new variants to the New Zealand market in the next few years. For the moment it is too early to confirm when the next EQ variant will arrive on our shores.” 

As a sign of the how far the programme surrounding the EVA2 common scalable architecture has progressed, Benz released images of disguised cars undergoing trials in public. These have since been identified as the EQE and EQS luxury sedans and EQS sports utility.

The EQS sedan – which can be called an electric S-Class – is set to be in build next year, the others in 2022. 

Before all that happens, the brand will launch two electrified versions of vehicles that provision now in fossil-fuelled form – the EQA, which spins off the GLA, and the EQB, derived from the GLB.

Also on the electric release roster are a fully battery-reliant version of the rugged G-Class as well as a EQS in Maybach format. The uber-plush ultra-premium brand has not really represented in NZ to date; the closest market for Maybach being Australia. However, it seems possible that might change now that it has electric and also with the GLS large SUV also provisioning as a Maybach model.

In addition to all this, the make has unfolded plans for a new fully electric architect designed for compact and medium-sized vehicles, called MMA, arriving in 2025, and has used the Beijing motor show to display a concept, the EQXX prototype, which promises the world’s longest electric car range.

That’s a bold statement, given the maker has already cited expectation of the

EQS achieving 700 kilometres’ range, based on the European WLTP testing standards, when provisioned with a 100kWh battery. It's likely that a range of smaller battery options will also be made available.

The production centre for the luxury electrics is the brand’s Sindelfingen ‘Factory 56,’ which is one of the world’s most technically advanced manufacturing facilities. Factory 56 is also home to the new S-Class, incoming here soon, in standard and hybrid forms. 

Mercedes ideas about EQ styling has been expressed by concepts, such as the 2019 Vision EQ Silver Arrow.

As much as EQS is considered part of the S-Class family, Ola Kallenius – chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG, and head of Mercedes-Benz – has assured it will have its own distinct entity: “It’s not our goal to say here’s another S-Class that looks exactly the same, it’s just a powertrain difference. It will be a different luxury tech proposition.”

The Benz push aligns with a public pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and is another reminder about how serious this and other makes are about divesting from fossil fuels. The world’s oldest make is going hard; it claims all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will account for more than 50 percent of its sales before the end of this decade.

 It’s a shift that New Zealand could conceivably find relatively unchallenging to accept, in that our electricity production infrastructure is so obviously Green-minded, far more so than in most countries thanks to our high reliance on hydro, wind and geothermal generation.

The lack of Government incentive to help consumers buy into brand-new EVs, plus the market being open to used and grey import electrics that are often perceived – usually wrongly - to be better value, and even the relatively low price of petrol and diesel is patently inhibiting any serious swing toward plug-ins.

To date this year, just 1084 brand-new electric passenger vehicles have found homes; a fraction of the total count of new cars registered this year, in a market condition that is down almost 25 percent on the same period of 2019.

The model with the highest count of registrations is the Tesla Model3, with 414 plated-up to date. That’s not necessarily down to a rush on the car now; it’s effectively Tesla making good on orders that might be placed at least a year.

The Hyundai Kona comes second, with 171 units, then the Nissan Leaf, with 116 – though many of these might have been parallel imports. The VW Golf has achieved 69 placements, the Jaguar i-Pace and Tesla Model X 47 each and the Audi e-tron 38, a count also accrued by the Hyundai Ioniq. Next come the Mini hatch, on 31 and BMW i3, with 24.

Under-performing the EQC, Model S and Niro are the Renault Zoe (six), LDV EV80 (four), Porsche Taycan (three, though availability has just begun), Renault Kangoo (two), the list rounding out with three models the general public is likely to be unfamiliar with taking one registration apiece. These being the Factory Built EV10, the Factory Built Souzhou and the Polaris Groupil.

S-Class Kiwi kit-out getting lots of thought

We ask Mercedes Benz to give insight into how much of a smarty pants its S-Class will be in local spec.

HOW clever will Mercedes’ smartest car turn out to be in New Zealand conditions?

The new S-Class, the most advanced car the world’s oldest vehicle maker has ever placed into series production, is not set to land for another eight months. Yet assuredly it’s already a question the brand’s distributor is already giving thought to.

The news could be good – while loath to lock into any particular commitments, Mercedes Benz New Zealand is expressing confidence about delivering a smart product in every sense.

That potentially means a huge wow factor. This technology trendsetter is engineered to achieve big feats and has been loaded with many more gadgets and a lot of extra computing power than has gone into any previous model. or any other Mercedes production car.

Still, no promises yet, for good reason. In as much as initial international media attention and brand spruiking of the past few weeks has left impression the sky is the limit here, the reality is that for all the drum-banging, there’s no certainty every whizzo feature will be an immediate or even certain a starter in our world.

First, and most importantly, Mercedes itself has to decide which functions are relevant in which markets. Distributors do not have open slather; even factory shops cannot simply tick every box. The maker has to analyse and decide. That’s a historic practice that potentially becomes all the more relevant now, with a car in which some features are so advanced that there’s no regulation in some places to guide their usage.

The good news for New Zealand is that there’s little red tape to impinge here. We have remarkably few regulations that might conceivably restrict advanced tech – in theory, if a fully autonomous car were to turn up tomorrow (and don’t get excited -  it won’t), there are no rules to keep it from operating.

However, there’s also a catch. To the Germans, New Zealand and Australia are considered one and the same. For expediency the product choices are common, whatever we take also has to suit our neighbour and since they are the bigger and more important market, their decisions become ours to live with. 

Unfortunately, their determinations are not just down to taste but also having to abide by Australian Design Rules. Drawn up to protect a domestic car-marking industry that patently no longer exists, ADR nonetheless still impinges heavily over there and so, by proxy, impacts over here too.

ADR is a hefty rulebook containing thousands of fish hooks, some of which can catch out a maker for what would outwardly seem the most bizarre reasons. Aussie has signed for the S-Class and it would seem highly unlikely the world’s smartest car won’t sail through ADR without hindrance.

And, yes, that ‘smart drive’ portrayal is apt: On computing power alone, the S-Class makes others look dumb. The MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Interface) alone is 50 percent more powerful than the system found in present product because it will operate up to five screens in this car. 

The main one is a 12.8-inch portrait screen on the centre console, with haptic touch feedback and changeable OLED technology. It’s where you’ll access the majority of controls and functions, so 27 buttons have been removed as a result, and adds over-the-air update functionality to the S-Class for the first time.

Today’s story highlights some of the head-line features. MB NZ boss Lance Bennett was happy to share his thoughts about each one and the chances of local utilisation.

We started off by asking about the new Drive Pilot system. The big story is that it can drive itself more often thanks to adoption of  ‘level 3’ semi-autonomous driving - meaning ‘hands-off’ autonomous driving on motorways and in traffic where legally permitted. 

We already known Benz plans a staged introduction of the new system, which uses lidar among other sensors, and every suggestion is that export markets won’t get to use it until sometime after it is activated in Germany. And that’s not set to occur until at least mid-2021.

But are we in with a chance? Sorry nerds, Bennett isn’t going to commit, telling us only that: “ This feature will only be available in Germany once launched. At this stage, we cannot confirm which markets will be next.”

What about engine choices? Obviously there are still purely fossil-fuelled choices and we know the first derivative here will be one of those, being the six-cylinder petrol S450.

But we’re hearing about a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The new S580e promises an electric range of just over 100kms on the WLTP test cycle – so, more than double the range of its predecessor – sounds good.

Good news. Bennett concurs.  “Yes we will be looking to bring the PHEV S-Class variant to New Zealand, we cannot confirm timing at this stage.”

As for other engine choices?  “We cannot confirm which models will launch following the initial confirmed S 450 variant, but will be considering all AMG S-Class variants for NZ.”

(BTW, a full blown electric S-Class isn’t coming. But an equivalent will be, being the EQ-S, the top dog of the standalone EQ electric vehicle family).

There are plenty of other smarts announced for the flagship sedan that, in its seventh generation, takes inspirations from upmarket home interior design and luxury yachts.

The instrument panel is a step up from the already class-leading display now common to all Benz cars, in that it delivers a 3-D effect that manifests itself when the driver looks at the dashboard. Say what? No, seriously: 3-D and without the need for special glasses. And yes, it can be deactivated if that seems a bit too weird.

So, can we get it? Says Bennett: “(It) will be available to our market and we will confirm if standard closer to our local launch.”

In respect to visual projection, there’s more. A giant alternate version of the standard head-up display can now project augmented reality content onto the road ahead of you. Animated arrows that show you exactly where to turn and real-time information about the distance from cars ahead, overlaid directly on the real-world objects—among other nifty animations. 

The extravagant version of the now digital headlights also gets in on that idea. It has powerful LEDs that are capable of projecting warning symbols and lane markings onto the road ahead. And these will be high res, highly detailed motifs. The lights can display 2.6 million pixals. According to Benz research and development boss Markus Schafer: “You could play a movie in your garage with resolution.”

Again, stupefying. And for us? “(It)  will be available to our market and we will confirm if standard closer to our local launch.” So that’s not an outright no, then.

The same response goes for the following:

Interior Assist, which can recognise physical movements and enable selected vehicle functions - such as the passenger seat light illuminating if you reach over to pick something up from the seat. The dash display, climate and stereo preferences are also customised. To access your profile a driver "logs in" using facial recognition, voice recognition, a fingerprint sensor or a PIN.

The ‘energising’ system that puffs out nice aromas from an in-built perfumer has new scents - “Bamboo Mood” and “Cotton Mood” have been highlighted. The active comfort features are upgraded. It’s also now capable of adjusting the lighting, seating and air conditioning and is compatible with some smartwatches and phones. The system will measure your stress levels and adjust settings accordingly. Also, if the S-Class senses you're drowsy, it'll run an environment programme to wake you up, using lighting and those scents.

The ‘4-D’ Burmester audio system that uses 30 speakers and eight resonators – aka bass vibrators - to produce the sound experience. Mercedes puts two of the latter in the back of each seat, and they reproduce the “sound resonance” for even more “tangible” listening. The intensity of the resonators can be individually adjusted for each seat, in case your passengers aren’t feeling up to experiencing sound in the fourth dimension. 

The new parking camera. Instead of the usual bird's-eye view, the S-Class’s shows a chase-cam view, as if the car were being followed by its own personal drone. Swipe the screen and you can fly your view around the car, with quick, smooth animation.

Also, in respect to parking, it gets remote parking functionality, meaning the car can park itself or be summoned from a short distance via a smartphone.

Getting into parking spots will be even easier thanks to a new four-wheel steering system. At AMG level, the system is tuned for performance, with a 4.5-degree maximum steering angle on the rear axle, whereas less performance-oriented editions - called Executive Line cars - have a 10-degree steering system that reduces the turning circle to that of Benz’s smallest family car, the A-Class.

For us? “Will be available to our …” Etc, etc. You know the rest.

Same goes for E-Active Body Control suspension, which is surely going to be popular. It operates just like the system does on the GLE and GLS sports utilities, individually regulating the damping and spring forces at each wheel.

It includes adaptive dampers that work in tandem with processors and sensors located around the car. The system can monitor the road surface 1000 times a second and continually adapt the Airmatic air suspension.

This is primarily, but not totally, to ensure a plush ride. Mercedes says the level of adjustability certainly allows the car to be regally comfortable on poor surfaces, but stiff enough to hustle you so choose; as on the SUVs it can even lean the car into corners to help minimise body roll.

There’s a safety benefit, too: As an ingredient of the Pre-Safe safety suite, it will automatically raise the suspension by up to 80mm if the car is about to get T-boned, the idea being to put the side sill (which is stronger than the doors) in the path of the incoming car. There’s also a new central airbag that deploys to reduce the risk of a clash of heads in an accident. 

Finally, with the market shifting so rapidly to SUVs, it almost seems like an anachronism that the S-Class, rather than the GLS-Class is still Mercedes' flagship. So, what’s the volume expectation for the sedan?

Says Bennett: “For now, we see them as two very different customers, historically, more than half of the current customers see no alternative to the S-Class.

“This means, an S-Class customer does not even consider buying a different model which is very different when compared to the rest of our range.”

As for when the GLS might begin to adopt the same features as the kingpin car?

 Sorry, nothing to report on that one.

Mercedes GLB: Compact family mover raises stakes

Get set to enjoy the surprising star qualities of Benz’s smallest sports utility.

GLB 250 and AMG-tweaked GLB 35 (right) will likely achieve the bulk of volume.

PLAYING for a full house is the game plan for Mercedes’ first baby sports utility.

 In revealing pricing and specification details for the GLB, which rides on new large iteration of the A-Class architecture, Mercedes Benz New Zealand has also revealed it only has eyes for the full-blown edition configured for family use, rather than an alternate derivative that presents as an extra-sized hatchback.

 Going just for the line-up in its 200 front-drive and 250 and AMG 35 four-wheel-drive full chair count presentations is a different tack than that adopted in Europe, where the five-seater is more on the front foot. 

The strategy conceivably doesn’t discount the car still being seen as a rival for the BMW X1 and Audi Q3, but certainly allows it to square up as an elite-end alternate to the only like-sized German model in this space, the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace.

Mercedes’ local arm doubts it will be any poorer ignoring the five-seaters, pointing – quite reasonably – that this configuration is still availed the seven-chair edition; it’s just a matter of folding down the rearmost seats. 

This doesn’t mean the five-chair car couldn’t be sourced, as it does build in right-hand-drive. Just don’t expect to be able to order it through official channels. It’s simply not an option. “The car comes standard with seven seats in New Zealand,” a spokesman affirmed today.

The decision is based on a logic of keeping things simple, although it also identifies that additional flexibility and functionality will tune all the more nicely into the emergent Kiwi love for compact SUVs.

GLB 250 has 4MATIC

In respect to ensuring it is ticking all the boxes, MBNZ has also … well, ticked all the boxes. The suite of technology, safety and comfort inclusions and equipment specifications for NZ achieves beyond some other countries’ standard provisions.

You won’t have long to make up your own minds. A first shipment provisioning the $78,900 GLB 200 entry car and $92,200 mid-range GLB 250 4MATIC will unpack in several weeks. The flagship AMG-reworked GLB 35 4 MATIC, a $104,900 ask, comes later in the year, exact timing yet to be determined. All GLBs take the shortest sailing time yet for a Mercedes’ car, being sourced from a new factory in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

That launch timing is exactly to the plan unfurled last year during the car’s international release, when MBNZ managing director Lance Bennett expressed his optimism about why GLB will resonate, notably through it being in the right price band for families for whom this might well be their first new Mercedes.

“With the GLB we now have the ability to transport an entire family’s worth of activity and adventure from a much lower starting price than before,” he said then. “We expect this … will see us attract entirely new customers where we have not had a suitable vehicle in the past.” 

Notwithstanding that these thoughts were expressed before the world had even heard of coronavirus, let alone felt its impact on new car sales, the comment likely will remain relevant. A first drive last year in Spain imprinted hugely favourable impression of its qualities.

AMG engine is a sweet fit for this family-minded model.

The packaging is right up there. This is the smallest SUV Benz has ever tackled, yet it doesn’t feel that way. Even though it is not, by any stretch, a large car in overall dimension, and regardless that the handsome Benz styling suggests it as a big hatch, GLB is at heart a box full of chairs in which every centimetre of interior space is put to excellent use.

So clever is the employment of the additional room resulting from being on a wheelbase that’s 100mm longer than the other related models within the ‘compact portfolio’ - the A-Class hatch and sedan, B-Class, CLA and GLA – allows it a decent chance of being seen as a tangible alternate for anyone who now cannot stretch to a GLE (in which five chairs are standard and seven an option) due to need to reduce their spending.

Front headroom is a claimed best in class at 1035mm with an “especially comfortable” 967mm of legroom in the second row. True, it’s tight right at the back, but even with Benz’s admission that it only offers comfortable seating for those under 1.68m tall, that third row zone is hardly for emergency use only, not least because the second row is able to be slid forward by up to 140mm.

What does imprint more is that, wen running full occupancy, the luggage space remaining is miniscule. Stowing the back pair (neatly, into the boot) and it’s much more convenient, of course, as then there’s a loading space of 560 litres, expanding to 1755 litres when the second and third rows are stowed.

The force-fed 225kW/400Nm 2.0-litre unit ensures the AMG is considerably quicker than the other GLBs.

A lot of clever thinking (and using that VW for benchmarking) delivers decent head and legroom, excellent outward visibility and good stowage solutions, but one thought from the launch was that, before letting the kids in, you’d do well to pre-check for sticky little fingers. This is a premium car, flashiness extending beyond the fully digital dash with the MBUX interface (and occasionally over-eager ‘Hi Mercedes’ prompt). Touch surfaces use high-quality materials, buttons and knobs have a satisfying tactility and reassuring clicks and it’s beautifully trimmed, with cushy seats.

The NZ-market spec plays to that. Base trim includes the now familiar side-by-side 10.25-inch digital screens, keyless go, electric tailgate, Artico upholstered Comfort seats, adaptive cruise control, smartphone mirroring, wireless charging, advanced satellite navigation, illuminated door sills, leather multi-function steering wheel, reversing camera, Comfort suspension, rain-sensing wipers, 19-inch alloy wheels and aluminium roof rails. 

Standard safety gear includes nine airbags, active parking assist with Parktronic, adaptive high beam assist, blind spot assist, traffic sign assist, active lane keep assist and active brake assist with semi-autonomous braking.

The car’s other big flavour hit arrives with the driving. Family buses are generally not exactly highly-regarded for any kind of ‘fun-to-drive’ factor, and you wouldn’t think Benz would be the first brand to come to mind as a rule-breaker. But, truly, it was a surprise; that AMG car, especially, doesn’t let do anything to tarnish that sub-brand’s pedigree but, in truth, the non-performance-tuned editions are quite playful, too.

The steering feel is good, the car’s track neatly and though the 4MATIC’s enhanced traction is obvious, the front-driver has good grip. The dynamics are interesting, in a good way. Even the pliancy resultant from the extended wheelbase and tuning with mind to having to cope with optimal loadings are pluses for the ride-handling balance. Yes, there’s a touch of lean, but on the other hand it shouldn’t surprise if these turn out to be more comfortable and quiet on NZ coarse chip than other products on this base. In Spain we drove every model in both chair counts and found any thought about the seven-seater being less involving than the five, merely through the weight difference, was pretty much undone.

The fastest small car on the school run?

The GLB200’s turbocharged 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, with 120kW and 250Nm, sent via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission delivers nifty delivery, but it’ll be easier to find excuse to seek an upgrade to the 250’s significantly more grunty (165kW/350Nm) 2.0-litre turbo. In addition to all-wheel-drive, it also adopts an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. 

The mid-grade edition also adds more kit, including a panoramic sunroof, powered and heated front seats with memory function, adjustable damping, sports steering and five-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels.

Also included as standard is an ‘off-road engineering pack’ comprised of speed-adjustable hill descent control and an extra driving mode specifically tailored for light off-road use. We found it useful on a rain-drenched and reasonably rutted dirt track but the fact that Mercedes closed off a dedicated off-road driving circuit simply because of the precipitation perhaps is reminder that this car is better considered a crossover at best.  

What of the AMG; could it be called a hot hatch? On first encounter the more hunkered and honed flagship was an eyebrow raiser. Even though hot-rodding SUVs has become an AMG speciality and even if GLB is more expected to get people to race circuits than on them, with 0-100kmh in an exhaust barking 5.2 seconds and 250kmh top speed, it surely places at least the Audi SQ3 and BMW’s X2 M35i on notice.

The same force-fed 2.0-litre unit employed in the other compact ‘35’ variants generates 225kW and 400Nm, so it’s considerably quicker than the other GLBs. It also evidences higher lateral limits. Only when pushed really hard did it find understeer on the first trial, but impression on that day from burling it through some exquisite hairpins was that the high traction and surety exceeds what you expect from a family chariot. A true driver’s treat? Well, put it this way … if the kids (or family pooch) are coming, pack sick bags. 

The NZ-market treatment includes AMG Night Package exterior trim features and unique 20-inch alloy wheels, the full-barp exhaust system, high-performance brakes, speed sensitive steering and AMG Ride Control sports suspension.

Inside the performance theme runs to a Nappa leather-wrapped performance steering wheel, Lugano leather sports seats, Energising Comfort Control, brushed stainless AMG pedals and carbon interior trim.