Mercedes-Benz GLB Will Be Made In Mexico And China

In a blog post on the Daimler website, Mercedes has revealed the official production sites for the upcoming GLB: Aguascalientes, Mexico, and Peking, China.

The two facilities will be in charge of putting together the ‘mini G-Wagen’ and assembly should commence in the coming months, as the GLB will make its way into showrooms before the end of the year.

Mercedes-Benz had about half a year to come up with the GLB Concept. The team started off with a few sketches and a 1:1 clay model. From there, they searched for a seven-seater to use as a basis and started sourcing different parts from three different cars, whereas other components were made from scratch.

Mercedes SC 037

Coming up with the SC 037 (Show Car 37) that was officially shown to the public in Shanghai, last week, was an arduous process, but they managed to overcome all obstacles. Shortly after the build was done, it was presented to European journalists in Building 80 in Sindelfingen, Germany. Next, it was a question of logistics to get it shipped to China, so the study was loaded into a converted sea container and flown to the Asian country in economy class, three weeks before the auto show kicked off for customs clearance.

There will be at least one AMG model

The GLB will be offered as a roomier alternative to the GLA. It’s based on the FWD-biased AWD MFA2 platform shared with the new A-Class, B-Class and CLA and will share most of its engine lineup with these models. An AMG GLB 35 version, with 302 horsepower, is coming, but we cannot tell you yet whether it will get the AMG 45 treatment too, like the upcoming A45 mega hatch, which is expected this year with in excess of 400 horsepower.

When will it debut in production form?

There’s nothing official yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show in September, probably after a summer unveiling.