The 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is a complete redesign and is due to arrive in the showroom this week! This has been a highly anticipated redesign for us. I was lucky to get to go to a pre-release training in Jacksonville last week and this video is from that training. I spent the day with our trainers learning the new MBUX technology as well as an hour driving the GLE450 on the road. It is quieter, more luxurious and very advanced technologically!
My first impressions are that it is an evolution, not a revolution on the outside. The headlights and taillights are modern, mirroring the new A-Class and CLS-Class. The vehicle is 4.5″ longer, including 3″ on the wheelbase. This give the second row passengers quite a bit of leg room. The interior is where the major upgrades have occurred. The new dashboard layout is beautiful and gives it an entirely fresh appearance. The MBUX system (which isMercedes speak for the nav/radio/Bluetooth/voicesystems) in intuitive andvery cool!
There are two models for the 2020 Model Year. The GLE350 4matic with a 4-cylinder engine and a GLE450 4matic with the inline-6 will both be available at launch.A 2WD GLE350 will be available later. There will be no AMG variants for the 2020 model year but I am sure they will turn up for 2021. No word on 43/53/63 availability.
Pricing will be similar to GLEs from previous model years. We have been playing around with different combinations and I am getting GLE350s in the $59-$62,000 range and GLE450s in the $68-$75,000 range. Of course there are outliers! Wait until you see my $95,000 GLE450 with every option!
This GLE is also a very good preview for the redesigned GLS-Class that we expect to see before the end of 2019. Having a third row option in the GLE will be nice but it will not replace the utility of the full size GLS and the additional space that allows.
The video is just a quick sneak peak with more coming soon!
