German Car Zone

Don't let the pretty face of the new Mercedes GLK-Class fool you. This compact SUV is ready with some clever tricks for off-road adventures


I felt bemused as I settled into the leather driver's seat of a Mercedes GLK-Class SUV for an off-road test drive in a wooded area of Germany's Ruhr Valley. Let's face it, I thought, Mercedes (DAI) is not aiming at the rod-and-gun crowd with a $53,000 car that you can order in white with tinted windows and two-tone upholstery. Promotional materials even show a fashionable woman loading her designer luggage into the back. Britney Spears may buy this car to evade the paparazzi, but you won't see many bass fishermen kicking the tires.

Or so I thought. A short while later I found myself trying to steer the GLK down a steep, slippery incline. At the bottom was a small river spanned by a bridge consisting of several logs. If I had been in a TV commercial, this would be the moment when a subtitle appears warning that only professional drivers should attempt this maneuver. Except that I'm not a professional driver.

The Mercedes man assigned to keep me from wrecking the vehicle seemed remarkably calm, and soon I found out why. He reached over from the passenger seat and pressed a button on the dashboard that activated the optional Downhill Speed Regulation. Using the cruise control lever on the steering wheel, I set the speed at 4 kilometers an hour. The GLK's electronics slowed the car to walking pace and distributed power among the four wheels in a way calculated to maintain traction. All I had to do was steer carefully onto the log bridge and across to safety. Even Britney could have done it.

After completing the off-road course, I had to admit that, yes, bass fishermen would like this car, too. You can drive the GLK at more than 100 mph on the Autobahn, as I did briefly. (For the record, it was a stretch of highway where there is no speed limit.) But the GLK is also a real 4-by-4. Thanks to clever electronics that keep the vehicle steady and maintain traction in rough terrain, an average driver can perform gymnastics on the trail that would confound even professionals.

Under Three Years

The GLK, which goes on sale in Europe in October and in the U.S. early in 2009, is Mercedes' most important new car of the year, and it's good—if you ignore the fact that soaring fuel prices are causing SUV sales to plunge. At least the GLK is a so-called compact SUV. "Compact" in this case presumably means "compared with a Hummer." But the GLK does get decent gas mileage for a 2-ton vehicle. The 4-cylinder diesel version is rated at 34 miles per gallon (or, in European terms, 6.9 liters per 100 kilometers). The 6-cylinder gasoline version that will be sold in the U.S. gets just 22 mpg, however. (Mercedes hasn't yet announced a U.S. price for the GLK, but the same car costs more than $60,000 in Germany.)

Mercedes brought the GLK from design to production in under three years because it needed to compete better with smaller SUVs such as BMW's (BMWG.DE) successful X3. Besides being smaller, the GLK differs from the rest of the Mercedes SUV lineup in a number of ways. Designer Steffen Köhl and his team gave the GLK a boxy look to set it apart from the crowded SUV market, as well as from Mercedes' own M-Class cars. The angular design harkens back to military vehicles, the original SUVs, which had squared-off body parts that were easy to make and fix.

Inside, the GLK feels like a passenger car, except with more upright seating and a picture-window view out the front. In fact, some of the cockpit, such as the seats, comes from Mercedes' C-Class sedans. The car's interior amenities seem more attuned to the suburbs than the woods, though I suppose you could argue that the video display that lets you see what's behind the rear bumper helps the environment. It keeps you from backing into trees.

But people who never drive off the pavement with their GLK will be missing some fun. At one point during the test drive, my Mercedes co-pilot coached me across a series of huge earthen bumps. Between each set of obstacles, the car teetered dangerously on one front wheel and the opposite rear wheel. The other two wheels were several feet off the ground. Instead of spinning wildly, the free wheels stopped instantly while the other two continued to deliver power. The Mercedes guy taught me how to brake slightly when the GLK crested a bump, causing the front wheel to drop gently back to the ground.

It will be interesting to see whether record fuel prices will restrict this kind of fun to a few buyers. Unlike most of the rest of Mercedes' SUV lineup, which is made in Tuscaloosa, Ala., the GLK will roll from a plant in Bremen, Germany. That suggests the car is destined not only for well-heeled European buyers but also the growing flock of wealthy Russians. The fast-growing Russian market (BusinessWeek.com, 7/11/08) has helped prop up sales for the whole industry recently. Mercedes execs can only hope it will keep the SUV market alive as well.


Mercedes GLK: More Rugged Than It Looks


I really like this little trucklet.

M

Wow!! It really looks like the GLK gets the new side mirrors now!? I am a bit confused, though…

edit: Just checked the homepage - the GLK definitely is only available with these mirrors.

The GLK's lineage (BusinessWeek):



Bigger Brother

Mercedes is hardly new to the SUV market. The GL Class, launched in 2006 and made at Daimler's plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is a full-size SUV that seats seven people. But the new GLK, with its relatively modest price by luxury car standards, aims to take market share from lower-priced competitors such as the Volkswagen Tiguan.




Dad

The original Mercedes SUV is the G-Class, which has been on (and off) the road for 30 years. With its boxy lines, the G-Class looks more like a classic off-roader with military roots, and in fact a version of the car is still used by the German army.





Curvier Cousin

The M-Class, also manufactured in Tuscaloosa, was Mercedes' first SUV aimed at the U.S. market. The curved lines of the current version, known as the ML-Class, are in contrast to the sharp angles of the new GLK. Mercedes aims to distinguish the GLK from its predecessors as well as a host of competitors, and help Mercedes find a niche in the crowded SUV market.






Crossover Cruiser

The R-Class is Mercedes' entrant in the crossover market, essentially a road vehicle designed for long trips but with four-wheel drive (there's also a two-wheel-drive version). With the new GLK, Mercedes has now covered most of the high-end SUV market. Now if fuel prices would only go down...



M

Good to see the GLK is capable ...not just a powder puff in Timberlands after all

Timberland boots Rob, Timberland....lol.

M

LOL, of course, how unsophisticated of me ...I'll correct that immediately.

While GLK's bigger brother and dad look 10 times better than GLK itself, i can't say the same for other two, especially not for it's "refreshed" (read: now uglier) curvier cousin. Oh and that cruiser...

I'd pick that "Dad" over all of them any day.

Dad, there's only one

I like the look off the glk i no many find it boxy but i do like it and i really like the interior a lot.in my view its the best in the class in someways i think its going to be a major threat to the ml...well i own the gl so i do like the suv and high ride off a suv maybe if it ever comes to sa in a right hand version with the new 250 diesel engine i will lokk at one for my daily use and sell my c220cdi

I seriously dig the GLK,gorgeous compact SUV