What do we think? A niche too far ? - or are they not going to able to make these fast enough?
Hehā¦ I was watching Doug DeMeroās review of a $50k Honda Odyssey last night. Obv not quite the same, but he pointed out that the gap in the market of luxury family cars w 3rd row etc.
I think the market is there and there will be plenty of these in grocery store parking lots.
Looks like a facelift of the old Tiguan
This. Letās assume it starts where the Mazda CX-5 tops out ($37k). Similar power, but the Mazda will come more lavishly equipped, but the MB has the 3rd row and, more important, a big star on the front end. And the MB may lease better, too. 
For me, Iād never consider a GLA, the GLC is too expensive, but the 2-row version of this may hit the sweet spotā¦ Esp if they offer them as loaners.
Yup, and the new GLS looks like a last gen Q7:
GLC isnāt that big, canāt image shoving a 3rd seat in a smaller car. But yeah, they wont make them fast enough.
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Anyone else thrilled to see more crossover/SUVs coming out, knowing sedan fans will continue to reap all the incentives? Ha.
Hmm, Iām not sure I believe in that philosophy though - using that standard wouldnāt we all be driving bargain wagons?
Instead theyāre a niche market and prohibitively expensive to lease. I can absolutely see the sedan going the same route. People stop buying them, manufacturers limit the production numbers and thus we get crazy priced leases. Sedans are basically already completely dead in Europeā¦
Could be long term for sure. But it seems like at the moment isnāt the case. Probably a short term push to get rid of them before they die for good.
Most of the big SUVs, Range Rovers, etc I see are driven by solo drivers here in LA. Such a waste. But the american way I guess.
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Sweet. Another crossover with a shoehorned 3rd row that everyone āneedsā 2-3 times a year.
Yawn
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I think it will be more like a 45k car compare to the low 50k GLC once you put the more or less standard options (i.e. premium packages, sun roofs, navā¦) on it but I expect them to sell very well. As far as I can tell Volvo is selling every XC40 they can make at almost MSRP a year after it has come out. I expect audis new Q3 to also sell like mad.
And people will make fun of that 3rd row saying it is basically useless. But you know if you are the person that can get away with a small 3rd row a half dozen times a year, it is really nice. Being able to take the grandparents and family the 10 min drive to the beach or a restaurant in one car is nice. Or taking 4 kids to some local activity.
And the GLA has to be a dead product in the USA. It like the first generation X1 and Q3 made a few too many compromises for most people. Of course this is MB. They probaby have a coupe version of the glb on the drawing boardsā¦
I also see the appeal of decent trunk space 99.9% of the time. Especially when that doubles up as āemergencyā seats if you need to ferry an extra couple of kids (or in my case, drunk gays around Palm Springs)
Besides, this is essentially the same dimensions as the Dodge Journey and inexplicably FCA is still managing to sell almost 100,000 of them a year! Of course no-one is cross shopping that with a Merc but I think it shows that some people, or maybe just fleet companies at least, are interested in small 3 row SUVs - the Tiguan is VWās best selling car.
Well, to be far, I said that I think itāll start at $38k.
But, yes, I agree that, for some (possibly many) an emergency 3rd row in a car thatās not gigantic (b/c Lord knows we donāt need more of those on the road, at least where I live) might actually be really useful.
I like how boxy and relatively utilitarian it looks.
Looks much better than the GLC.
This is way smaller than a journey. Its basically a MB version of a subaru forester with an optional 3-row
Hopefully this leases decently at the end of 2020 when my momās Equinox lease is up. Sheās a huge fan of the design of this. Itās going to sell like hotcakes
Agreed! I am keeping my fingers crossed. If the numbers are too high I may once again start considering the Velar but wonāt know until the fall. Who else thinks the lease numbers on the GLB will be high?
Youāll be keeping those fingers crossed for a while methinks. If MB is managing to convince people to spend $600+ a month on a $35k A- Class then god only knows what the GLB will be like. It wonāt be pretty.
I would probably look to the Volvo XC40 as an example. Slightly different customer base, but weāre 18 months after launch of that model and lease prices are still crazy with zero incentives
Yuk! $600+ for a 4 banger with 221hp MSRP at around 47-48k is terrible! It does look nice though, Iām wondering if in person it will be really small? Canāt really tell from the videos Iāve seen.
looks like a GLK