Mercedes Benz GLA Crossover spotted testing in India

The 2014 Mercedes Benz GLA crossover is the German luxury car marque’s big volume launch for this year in India, with the crossover likely to bow in during the festive season. Ahead of its launch in India, Mercedes Benz has begun testing the GLA crossover on Indian roads. The GLA crossover will take on the likes of the Audi Q3 and the BMW X1, and will be Mercedes Benz’s first compact SUV offering under the 30 lakh rupee mark.

 

The GLA crossover is based on the Mercedes Benz Modular Front Architecture (MFA), which also underpins cars such as the A-Class and B-Class hatchback. As it shares its platform with the A-Class and B-Class hatchbacks, the GLA crossover will also share engines and gearboxes. However, the 2.2 liter-4 cylinder turbo diesel engine on the GLA crossover will run a higher state of tune (167 Bhp-350 Nm) when compared to that on the A & B Class hatchbacks.

The petrol powered GLA will use a turbocharged 1.6 liter motor that outputs 156 Bhp and 250 Nm. The GLA crossover will use a 7 speed dual clutch automatic gearbox and will be front wheel driven across most of its variants. The top end variants sold in India could get an all wheel drive layout. Mercedes Benz India has also imported the GLA45 AMG crossover into India for homologation.

The GLA45 AMG crossover is a high performance, AMG variant of the GLA range, powered by a 2 liter-4 cylinder turbo petrol engine that outputs 360 Bhp of peak power and 450 Nm of peak torque. The same engine will make its Indian debut on the CLA 45 AMG, due to be launched here by September 2014. Expect the GLA45 AMG to follow the launch of the GLA crossover range.

The GLA crossover will eventually be assembled at Mercedes Benz India’s Chakan factory, off Pune, through the completely knocked down (CKD) kit route while the initial batches of the crossover are expected to be completely built units(CBU). Along with the GLA crossover’s CKD assembly, cars such as the A, B and CLA class models are also expected to hit the CKD circuit.

The MFA platform has spawned a range of affordable luxury cars under the Mercedes Benz brand, allowing the German luxury car giant to target big volumes and also focus on attracting a younger set of car buyers to the three-pointed star’s fold. Another MFA based car will debut soon in India, in the form of the high performance CLA45 AMG sedan. The toned down version of this AMG car, the CLA sedan will make its debut in early 2015.

Spyshot courtesy ZigWheels