Mercedes-Benz India launches GLE SUV, to be locally made at Pune plant

A hard-driving Mercedes-Benz India today rolled out its global luxury off-roader, the GLE in New Delhi. Constituting the 13^th new model for CY2015 out of the 15 new models proposed for the year, the GLE will be available in two variants, the 350d priced at Rs 69.90 lakh and the 250d at Rs 58.90 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The GLE will be locally produced in India at the luxury carmaker’s Pune plant in Maharashtra. India will be the first country after the US to produce it locally. A successor to the Mercedes-Benz M-class that established the luxury SUV segment in 1997, the GLE will take on the BMW X5 and the Volvo XC90.

Roland Folger, who has recently taken over as the managing director and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India and was part of the pioneering team that developed the first-generation M-class, said that the M-class has till date sold 1.6 million units globally and has been one of the most successful models of the carmaker. The third-generation M-class that rolled out in 2012 will now be replaced by the GLE SUV with the G nomenclature that marks its GLA and GL SUV portfolio.

“Mercedes-Benz has a formidable SUV portfolio ranging from the GLA to the AMG G 63 in India. This gives us a strong competitive advantage resulting in our SUV segment to grow the fastest in the entire portfolio by 70 percent in the January-September 2015 period. The addition of the versatile GLE comes at the right time and will add to our brand’s SUV portfolio. The start of local production of both the variants of the GLE simultaneously is a key decision that will enable us to address the demand of the SUV in the foreseeable future,” said Folger. 

The GLE 350d comes with a 6-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with a displacement of 2987cc and a maximum torque of 620Nm. The GLE 250d’s 2143cc inline 4 cylinder diesel engine develops 204hp and a torque of 500Nm.

The GLE is equipped with a 9G-Tronic nine-speed automatic transmission with direct seller lever and has been developed in-house. The carmaker claims it is the world’s first 9-speed AT in the luxury segment that can be used in conjunction with longitudinally mounted engines. The 9G-Tronic features the AT with nine forward gears and one reverse gear.

Standard features on the GLE include Dynamic Select drive mode selection, six airbags, 4Matic all-wheel-drive system, Downhill Speed Regulation system to regulate speeds between 2kph and 18kph, Crosswind Assist system that uses specific wheel braking to keep the car on course during strong cross winds and climate control (dual-zone for the 250d and three-zone for the 350d). In addition, the GLE 350d gets features such as memory front seats, Airmatic suspension, key-less go, COMAND Online display system  and 360-degree camera.

Some of the key Mercedes-Benz models out of the 13 to be launched during the year 2015 include the Maybach, CLA, C220CDI, new B-class and the new E-class.

At present, Mercedes-Benz India has 80 dealerships across 39 cities in India and has sold 10,000 units in the last 9 months, growing 34 percent this year.

Read more: Mercedes-Benz India drives past 10,000 sales in January-September