Mercedes-Benz has celebrated the production launch of the all-new GLE Coupe at the company’s Tuscaloosa plant in United States.
2015 is certainly the year of the SUV for the German brand. The majority of Mercedes’ SUV portfolio is being renewed, including the model update of the GLE and the brand-new GLE Coupé.
Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe is combining two classes of vehicle: the sporty nature of a coupé imbued with the striking characteristics of a robust SUV. Engine-wise, the GLE Coupe can be ordered in the company of one diesel, the GLE 350 BlueTec 4MATIC with 258 hp and 620 Nm; and four petrol variants – the 333 hp GLE 400 4MATIC, the 367 hp 520 Nm GLE 450 AMG and two sporty versions. Both are powered by the 5.5 liter V8 biturbo AMG engine in two guises: 557 HP/700 Nm for the GLE 63 AMG Coupe and 585 HP/760 Nm for the GLE 63 AMG S Coupe.
The GLE Coupe comes standard with the new 9G-TRONIC nine speed automatic transmission and 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive system. In the GLE 350 d and GLE 400 models, the 4MATIC system features a rigid torque distribution of 50:50% between the front and rear axles, which is different from the 4MATIC settings in GLE 450 AMG. In GLE 450 AMG Coupe, the configuration is modified for greater agility and the split is 40:60% front to rear.
The stability of the new GLE 450 AMG sport Coupe is also helped by the new AIRMATIC air suspension, available for the first time with the continuously variable damping system ADS Plus.
Established in 1995, the Mercedes-Benz Tuscaloosa plant (Mercedes-Benz U.S. International – MBUSI) celebrated its start of production in 1997. To date, Mercedes-Benz has made a $4.5 billion capital investment in its U.S. operations with more than 2.1 million vehicles rolling off the plant’s lines. Besides the GLE and GL, Mercedes is also building in Tuscaloosa the C-Class sedan since 2014. In 2014, MBUSI produced more than 232,000 vehicles.
