Bereft of its blingy rims, 'sporty' wrap and the iffy graphics, this is the Mercedes GLA45 AMG we all knew was
on its way
. Oh sure, Mercedes has christened the car you see here the 'Concept GLA 45', but it's fooling nobody. See the not-so-drastic transition from
Concept GLA
GLA
CSC Beijing
CLA
Rollin' on 21s, as you do
As you would expect, the GLA45 AMG uses the same 360hp, 332lb ft 2.0-litre turbo as the
A45
and CLA45. It is four-wheel drive too, of course, and Mercedes claims it will hit 62mph in less than five seconds. We would assume the SUV is as capable as the hatch of 155mph, although the claimed 40mpg of the A45 will probably drop a tad.
The 'powerful and muscular' presence of the AMG GLA Concept will largely be carried over to the production model. The more aggressive bumpers, side skirts and diffuser will surely make the transition, and the exhaust pipes look very similar to those on the A45. That wild spoiler and red-rimmed, erm, rims may be reserved for another Edition 1 AMG. We can but hope.
We don't want to say jacked-up A45 but...
Can the contemporary AMG magic be extended to another niche? AMG boss Tobias Moers is pitching the car at a 'strongly growing market segment of compact SUVs' and a target customer group focused on 'styling, dynamism and independence'. Given there's already an
Audi RS Q3
Alpina XD3
Macan Turbo
on its way, the very fast compact SUV is a burgeoning sector. Expect a massively un-PC group test sometime in 2014...
Mercedes has unveiled the GLA45 AMG Concept at LA. Dan is already out there so we should have some more details imminently.