Mercedes-Benz decided to introduce GLE luxury SUV in our country on 14th October and Expected to be launched at a price range of 60-70 lakhs. As mentioned earlier, Mercedes-Benz GLE is essentially the new generation ML-Class and it comes with the company's new nomenclature. The SUV is basically a face lifted version of the ML-Class and will compete against the likes of the upcoming Audi Q7 and BMW X5.
The GLE shares much of its titling with the GLE Coupe, which means it's a pretty aggressive-looking thing. There's a vast grille and badge up front, with large air intakes beneath, massive door mirrors, roof bars, LED lights front and rear, and twin tailpipes incorparated into the rear bumper (four on the flagship 63 AMG). Wheel sizes range from 19 inches on the entry-level Sport trim, with the 63 AMG getting 21-inch wheels, along with red brake callipers.
InteriorFirst impressions are very good indeed. looking on trim level, you get man-made or real leather on the dashboard, focus console, doors and seats. The cow hide in particular feels splendid. Your trim level also prescribes whether you get wood inserts or ones made from aluminium, piano-black lacquer or carbonfibre. The auxillary driver's seat and steering wheel adjust electrically on all versions, and you can change the lumbar support via buttons on the chairs or the touchscreen. Either way, it's easy to get comfortable. The dashboard is prevailed by an 8.0-inch screen that's operated by a dial between the front seats. The screen itself looks a little like a dash-mounted iPad, but the system works well, if not quite as well as BMW's iDrive. Although the windscreen pillars are a little thick, the view out of the car is decent - and certainly better than in the GLE Coupe.
There's plenty of room for five residents to stretch out in comfort, as well as lots of storage cubbies throughout the cabin. The boot is huge, too, with a long, flat load space from the boot lip to the back of the front seats when the rear seatbacks are closed flat. The rear suspension intrudes into the load space, but even so the GLE's boot capacity beats that of the XC90 and X5 with the seats up or down. The one exception to this is the GLE 500e hybrid, which loses 200-300 litres of volume because of the batteries installed beneath the boot floor. You can't specify an extra pair of seats on the GLE as you can in some rivals, but considering the minuscule legroom they tend to offer we don't think you'll mind. Those who tow caravans and horseboxes should be pleased with the 350d's 3500kg braked trailer limit.
