I accept that these four-door SUV “coupes” exist now, but I haven’t come around to them. Still, I ended up liking the Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe more than I expected to at the Detroit Auto Show.
And now that its upright sibling, the facelifted M-Class now known as the Mercedes-Benz GLE, has been shown in New York, I firmly believe the GLE Coupe is the right way to go if you absolutely have to have a GLE.
What was once a perfectly bland-looking front on the M has been given a swollen new face in the GLE transformation. And yet the rest of the car remains as conservative as ever. It’s underwhelming, to say the least.
The 2016 Lexus RX also made a transformation from bland to… less bland at the New York Auto Show, but it did so in a more cohesive way. I can’t believe I’m saying I like the new RX and its giant faces more than this Mercedes.
The GLE550e plug-in hybrid has issues other than its contrived name. Because of the addition of a big battery to what’s essentially an old M-Class, there’s a significant compromise to the cargo area. While there’s a lot of space left, there’s essentially a large suitcase permanently fixed to the cargo floor. A Volvo XC90 T8 plug-in will do this better, and with two extra seats, too.
Despite its faster roofline and sloping rear, the GLE Coupe isn’t cramped inside. It has four totally usable seats and still probably manages more space for actual things than the GLEe. And the slightly more intimate driving position makes the GLE’s interior feel a bit more special. For a luxury SUV that costs more than $50,000, the GLE Coupe feels special in a way the GLE doesn’t.
But hey, if you’re put off by the sharp turn the Lexus RX has made, you’d probably welcome a regular GLE. I’m sure Mercedes is smarter than all of us.
Photos copyright Carscoops.com / Zac Estrada
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