The new generation Mercedes GLC X254 debuts in 2022. The car was caught by colleagues from auto motor und sport magazine in the winter tests.

Photo: Auto motor und sport

Mercedes GLC is the best-selling premium middle-class SUV in Europe. Even in 2020, when sales were hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, GLC sold nearly 100,000 units in Europe, 50% more than the BMW X3 or Audi Q5.

Last summer the new generation Mercedes GLC, code name X254, was caught for the first time camouflaged and now Mercedes is carrying out winter tests for the new GLC.
The new GLC will be based on the MRA II platform used in the new C-Class and S-Class and, like the C-Class, will be more dynamic. The silhouette will be flatter and the headlights will be thinner and will go down towards the radiator grille.

The dimensions will increase slightly both in terms of length and wheelbase. It can be seen that the hood is also longer. This could mean that the future GLC will have 6-cylinder engines under the hood.
Although the new C-Class will only have 4-cylinder engines, Mercedes recently launched the GLC 400 d equipped with the new 6-cylinder inline diesel and that’s why we expect it to be also under the hood of the new GLC.
Of course, all engines will have at least a mild hybrid system and the range will be completed with the PHEV diesel and gasoline models.

The interior will take over the dashboard from the new C-Class, which means that the GLC will have a multimedia system with a portrait screen of 9.5 inches standard and 11.9 inches as an option. It remains to be seen whether the center console will be driver-oriented as in the new C-Class.

And what about a future electric GLC (EQC)? All indications are that Mercedes will use the EVA platform only for the executive and luxury EQE and EQS models and SUVs derived from them. For middle class and compact models, it seems that Mwercedes will use the new dedicated MMA platform on which it will build from 2025 both the successors of EQA and EQC.