^preach..
good to see MB entering this segment.. we dont like monopoly

I just hope they don't carry over the minivan-like rear from MLs.

All I know is that this thing better look good. I mean seriously, the X3 might sell a million but it's definitely not good looking. Now i'm sure i'm going to get flamed for this...but the the new ford Fusion and the new CR-V looks better than the X3.

I agree all these cars are high quality but as you said, I'm also not thrilled too much about these cars. I don't know how they decide to make a new car, I'm sure they do some researches among the buyers but I don't think the market needs all this.

Aha, profitable indeed. MB now wants a piece of the cake.

The A-Class and B-Class are pretty useful here in Europe, though MB is running the risk of hurting A-Class sales with the B-Class - which in fact just happened according to my latest Auto Motor und Sport. A-Class sales are down by 21% while B-Class sales rose by 14.2% last September.

I can live with ^these two^ cars. If I had the choice, I'd wish for a car that looked like the B-Class but had the driving feel and handling of the A-Class.

The R-Class is the car that kind of bugs me. MB already has the M-Class and an E-Class Estate. The M-Class has permanent AWD while the E-Class is available with 4Matic. Both these cars look better than the R-Class though the R-Class supposedly drives better than the M-Class. I've driven both and couldn't really detect a difference. Either way, I feel that the R-Class was a waste of resources.

The GLK-Class is another car. However, the segment it will compete in seems pretty popular and I am sure people will tire of the X3 and MDX, hence the GLK could be a welcome addition. We will see, but so far, I am not a fan of the upcoming GLK.

Boxy lady.

Very Land Rover-ish. A mini GL - GLK(ompakt).
Huckfeldt seems to be spot on again (regarding general shape).

Regarding X3: New X3 is coming in 2010 - a year or two after GLK & Q5 debut - and will be much more sporty looking than today's utilitarian E83. Think something similar to this (what AutoBild wrongly calls X6):

Don't forget the Audi with Q5! And Lexus is also thinking to introduce something in this range (RAV4 can help ).

Since large SAV segment (eg. X5) is crowded already, and compact SAV segment (eg. X3) is slowly become crowded as well, BMW will start to introduce new segments: SAC - Sport Activity Coupe vehicles (X6, possible X4), and SC - Sport Criuser vehicles (V5 Luxury SC, V3 Compact SC) - which will be more like a huge coupeish hatches / shooting brakes, and NOT VANS! While SACs will be all-purpose coupes, SCs will be perfect sporty versatile cruisers: premium, unique, versatile, sporty & dynamic.

New segments are necessary to take advantage of no competition existing. Note MB CLS ... Or X3.

I don't like the boxy look of GLK in the spy pics. The X3 might not be the most beautiful car int he world but at least it looks modern, this car looks already dated.

BTW the X3 is a huge success here in Greece , it has sold many cars this year and it's third overall in SUV sales after RAV4 and Suzuki vitara. Believe it or not X3 is close to outsell 3 series which is selling well but not as good as the previous generation.

Good point. The Audi Q5 and potential Lexus SUV will want some action as well.

All Lexus has to do though is slap a Lexus badge on the RAV 4, add leather and increase the price and sell it as a Lexus RAV 4. j/k