Advertisement

Seeing the rest of this sporty new Mercedes will shock you

Design-wise it follows the rules of Mercedes coupes, but mechanically it doesn't (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
Design-wise it follows the rules of Mercedes coupes, but mechanically it doesn't (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Mercedes-Benz has taken the wraps off the Concept Coupe SUV, a kind of car it has never done before. The upper half looks like a sporty, swoopy coupe, but the bottom half belongs to a rugged 4x4.

Today it's the Concept Coupe SUV. Tomorrow will it be the Mercedes MLC-Class? (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
Today it's the Concept Coupe SUV. Tomorrow will it be the Mercedes MLC-Class? (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

The result is a machine whose silhouette will be familiar to fans of the BMW X6. Like the BMW, the new Mercedes marries the tall ride height of an off-roader with the sleek lines of a coupe.

BMW did the coupe-SUV mash-up first with the X6 in 2008 (Credit BMW)
BMW did the coupe-SUV mash-up first with the X6 in 2008 (Credit BMW)

Unveiled at the New York auto show, the Concept Coupe SUV is a large car that measures nearly five metres in length and more than two metres in width, but the roofline is so swoopy that it isn't very tall—in spite of its raised suspension the Mercedes is just 1,739mm in height.

Mercedes says in a press release that the Concept Coupe SUV "demonstrates how a four-door, all-wheel drive series production coupé might look. " Translation: the car is destined for production and should reach showrooms next year.

If you like what you see you'll be glad to know you can buy it soon (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
If you like what you see you'll be glad to know you can buy it soon (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Possible names for the new coupe are MLC-Class and MLS-Class.

The prototype has air suspension and Mercedes's 4Matic all-wheel drive system, but the new coupe is more likely to be aimed at people who want a sporty drive on the road and not off it.

Look closely at the bonnet and you'll see the 'power domes' that Mercedes places on its sportier models.

'Power domes' on the bonnet: if it has them, it's a sporty Mercedes (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
'Power domes' on the bonnet: if it has them, it's a sporty Mercedes (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

At the rear, it follows the design rules that Mercedes has set down for all its coupes for the future.

There's a slim band of rear lights that stretches across the width of the back, and the number plate is incorporated into the rear bumper.

Therein lies a tail. The Concept Coupe SUV's rear end styling shows how all of Merc's coupes will look (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
Therein lies a tail. The Concept Coupe SUV's rear end styling shows how all of Merc's coupes will look (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

The Concept Coupe SUV also follows a more traditional styling rule for large coupes from Mercedes-Benz, with a rear window that is rounded off at the top.

It also shows off a number of features that will soon be available on Mercedes-Benz models.

The car's LED ‘Multibeam’ lamps are an active lighting system that discards the idea of merely using bulbs to throw a beam of light in front of a car. Instead, it uses a number of small LEDs that can be switched on or off individually to tailor the way light is spread ahead of the car, with a camera system making 100 calculations per second about how best to illuminate the road ahead.

It's a similar idea to Audi's Matrix LED lighting system.

Bright idea: the Multibeam LED uses a camera to figure out lighting patterns 100 times a second (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
Bright idea: the Multibeam LED uses a camera to figure out lighting patterns 100 times a second (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Another feature on the way? Signal lamps that blink from inside out to indicate which way you're headed (another idea you can see in an Audi).

Imagine those six yellow LEDs lighting up in sequence instead of blinking all at once (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)
Imagine those six yellow LEDs lighting up in sequence instead of blinking all at once (Credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Adding credence to Merc's insistence on the car's sportiness is the fact that the prototype has a twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6 engine with 333bhp and a nine-speed automatic. That should make the resulting MLC 400 (or MLS 400) quick enough to give a potential BMW X6 buyer something to stop and think about.

As for the idea that the car is merely a copy of a key rival's model, it's worth pointing out that even though the Concept Coupe SUV doesn't exactly break new ground, Mercedes has blazed a trail for others to follow in the past.

Its CLS-Class four-door coupe, for example, inspired a string of models from competitors (the Audi A5 Sportback and A7 spring to mind, as do the BMW 4 Series GranCoupe and 6 Series GranCoupe, or even the Volkswagen CC).

For every Actyon there is an equal and opposite reaction (Credit: Ssangyong)
For every Actyon there is an equal and opposite reaction (Credit: Ssangyong)

Meanwhile the success of the Mercedes B-Class has prompted BMW to follow with its 2 Series Active Tourer, a similarly boxy design.

And who says BMW should get credit for inventing the rugged, raised coupe breed anyway? Korea's SsangYong married a coupe-like body with a rugged 4x4 drivetrain as early as 2005 with the Actyon.

Of course, execs from BMW and Mercedes would rather chew on broken glass (and then wait for it to reach its alimentary conclusion) than admit to following one another, let alone a small Korean brand like SsangYong.

While detractors of the Concept Coupe SUV mull that over, what really matters is that the Mercedes is a stunning new addition to the lineup of a carmaker that is rapidly regaining its design mojo. To illustrate, here are 35 pictures of the new Mercedes...

https://www.flickr.com//photos/108649127@N03/sets/72157644116397971/show/