With the recent unveiling of the Mercedes-Benz GLB, the company’s new family of compact models is almost complete.
The A-Class hatch and sedan, CLA four-door coupe and CLA Shooting Brake, B-Class, and GLB are all here, yet one model is still missing – the GLA crossover. Earlier this month we brought you the most revealing spy shots yet of the second-generation Mercedes-Benz GLA and now it’s time to see it without any camouflage courtesy of the folks from Kolesa and one designer’s imagination.
Their Photoshop expert virtually peeled off the disguising material from the 2020 GLA and the result is definitely unsurprising. We say that because the two renderings reveal a jacked-up A-Class, something the GLA has always been.
Also read: 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLA Looks Almost Ready To Become The GLB’s Sportier Alternative
The second-generation model will follow in its predecessor’s footsteps, emulating the design of Mercedes’ compact hatchback, while giving it a more muscular identity courtesy of the increased ride height and SUV-like elements. Those include the plastic cladding that surrounds the wheel arches and the beefier bumpers.
More subtle changes include the position of the side mirrors and the addition of a third lateral window that the A-Class lacks. Expect the GLA to offer a similar package of turbocharged gasoline and diesel engines, including the new 1.3-liter petrol unit developed together with Renault. AMG-branded GLA 35 and GLA 45 versions should also become available with up to 302 hp and 416 hp, respectively.
When it launches later this year, the GLA will compete with the Audi Q2 and BMW X2, leaving the bigger and boxier GLB to deal with the Audi Q3 and BMW X1.
