2023 Mercedes-Benz GLC revealed, confirmed for Australia

The money maker at Mercedes-Benz used to be the E-Class sedan.

As comfy as an armchair, quietly competent when you needed to get somewhere in a hurry, and built like a tank, it was for decades the heart and soul of the three-pointed star. Philosophically, it still is.

But when it comes to making money at Mercedes-Benz these days, the GLC SUV is king.

The GLC is the best-selling Mercedes-Benz in the world. Which is why the 2023 GLC is one of the most important new vehicles Mercedes-Benz will launch this year.

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Code-named X254, the 2023 GLC is built on the MRA2 vehicle architecture that underpins the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class sedans. Compared with the current model, overall length has increased by 60 millimetres.

The wheelbase has increased by 15mm to improve rear seat legroom, and the front overhang has gone up by 15mm to meet pedestrian protection crash regulations.

The rest is all behind the rear axle, to address what GLC product manager Axel Benseler says was customer demand for more luggage space. “It was the biggest criticism of the old car,” he says.

At first glance the new GLC looks very safe, a low-risk makeover of the current model. “We had to be very careful with the design,” Benseler admits. Up close and in the metal, however, the new GLC is arguably more of a step-change over the old model than the recently redesigned C Class sedan was of its predecessor.

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Cleaner bodysides feature subtle creases over the front and rear wheels and are teased out over a slightly wider track – 6mm wider up front and 23mm wider at the rear.

The exterior mirrors are mounted on the doors to improve aerodynamics – Benseler says the drag co-efficient of the new GLC is 0.29, a six per cent improvement. The key visual change, however, is the new daylight opening, with a beltline that kicks up to a more elegantly designed D-pillar.

At the rear is a variation on the lozenge tail-light graphic now used across the Mercedes-Benz range, linked with a black bar that echoes the detailing used on the Mercedes-EQ electric models. Up front is a stronger grille flanked by new LED headlights.

What most people will notice, however, is the new GLC’s classy interior. As in the C-Class sedan, the cabin has been given the baby S-Class treatment, with the configurable 12.3-inch LCD instrument panel and the 11.9-inch portrait format MBUX screen swooping from the centre console up and over the lower part of the dash. And as in the C-Class sedan, the overall effect is that you’ve stepped into a slightly downsized version of Mercedes-Benz’s flagship.

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Six different GLC models will be available in Europe with powertrains that mix and match four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines with either 48-volt mild-hybrid (MHEV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) electric hardware. Australian customers, however, will be able to choose from just two when the GLC arrives here in the first quarter of 2023.

The MHEV powertrain in the GLC 300 4Matic comprises the 2.0-litre petrol engine, which develops 190kW at 5800rpm and 400Nm from 2000rpm to 3200rpm – with an additional 17kW and 200Nm of assistance available from the e-motor.

The PHEV powertrain in the GLC 300 e 4Matic has a 100kW and 440Nm e-motor sandwiched between the petrol engine and the nine-speed automatic transmission to give a total system output of 250kW and 550Nm.

Thanks to a 31.2kWh battery mounted under the rear load space floor – which eliminates the storage space underneath and raises the floor height by an inch or so, reducing the boot capacity from 600L to 460L – the new GLC 300 e boasts a 100 kilometre pure electric driving range at speeds of up to 140km/h. That’s more than double the range of the outgoing GLC 300 e, with 16 per cent more room in the boot.

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Standard equipment levels will be high, reflecting the fact that – globally – GLC customers have typically spent more on options than those buying C Class sedans. Every new GLC comes equipped with; 4Matic, full-size MBUX display, ambient lighting, wireless mobile phone charging, a power tailgate, privacy glass and heated front seats.

Among the tech upgrades are a ‘transparent bonnet’ feature, which comes as part of the optional 360-degree camera package and shows a virtual view of what’s almost under the front wheels when you select Off-Road mode. The nav system includes a towing planner that calculates routes suitable for driving with trailers of specific weights, widths, and heights. The trailer’s properties are defined via the trailer menu in MBUX, which is activated as soon as the trailer is coupled to the towbar and an electrical connection made.

The GLC launches in Europe in two basic trim levels – Avantgarde and AMG Line. The Avantgarde comes with 18-inch alloy wheels and Comfort Suspension specification steel springs. The AMG Line model gets different front and rear bumpers – with less chrome – a star-spangled grille, and standard 19-inch alloy wheels with staggered tyres.

Options include; 20-inch wheels on both trim levels and – on AMG Line models – the opportunity to have the black plastic around the wheel openings and under the doors painted body colour.

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Height adjustable air suspension – it drops the GLC 15mm at speeds over 100km/h to reduce drag and lifts it 50mm in Off-Road mode to provide additional clearance – is available as an option on the GLC 300, and is standard on the GLC 300 e, where the ride levelling system is used to counter the weight of the battery behind the rear axle.

Rear-wheel steering is available on GLCs with air suspension. The system pivots the rear wheels up to 4.5 degrees in the opposite direction to the fronts at speeds up to 60km/h to increase low speed agility and reduce the turning circle by almost eight per cent to 10.8m, and turns them in the same direction as the fronts over 60km/h to improve high-speed stability.

The mid-size SUV is a relatively new vehicle category for Mercedes-Benz – the GLK launched in 2008 was the company’s first foray into the segment. But with more than 2.6 million GLKs and GLCs sold worldwide since then, it’s a segment to which Mercedes-Benz now pays close attention.

The 2023 GLC proves the point. Slightly bigger, with more interior room and luggage space, more premium in look and feel inside and out, and boasting higher standard equipment levels, it has been carefully crafted to reassure existing Mercedes customers, and to attract new buyers out of their BMW X3s, Audi Q5s, and Range Rover Evoques.