The Mercedes-Benz GLA crossover (pictured below) may not remain the smallest SUV of the German luxury car manufacturer for long. Rumor has it that, Mercedes is considering an even smaller crossover that would be based on the Renault Captur.
Daimler already collaborates with Renault for the development of the new Smart ForFour and ForTwo, while the French carmaker also supplies small 1.5-liter diesel engines for the A-Class and CLA and will soon offer a newer 1.6-liter diesel unit for the latest C-Class.
Tipped to be called X-Class, the new crossover would be the sixth in Mercedes’ lineup, following the G-Class, GL, ML, GLK and GLA. The upcoming GLK will compete with the Audi Q5 and BMW X3, while the GLA (pictured) will go against the Audi Q3 and BMW X1. As for the X-Class, it will rival Audi’s upcoming Q1 crossover.
“There is the question of what happens below the GLA,” Mercedes head of research and development, Thomas Weber, told Auto Express. “We are watching it closely, but there are other gaps in the range that are more interesting,” Weber added.
If the X-Class happens, it will not launch sooner than 2016, as Mercedes-Benz also plans to unveil a sportier version of the ML, likely to be called MLC, in 2015.
By Dan Mihalascu
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