Mercedes-Benz South Africa says there’d be little local demand for GLB35…

By: CAR magazine

Mercedes-Benz South Africa says the new Mercedes-AMG GLB35 will not be offered locally as there wouldn’t be sufficient demand for the 225 kW crossover.

A spokesperson for the local arm of the Stuttgart-based firm told CARmag.co.za that while the compact crossover segment was indeed growing, it predicted too “small” a demand to warrant bringing in the GLB35 variant.

Instead, the local GLB line-up at launch in the second quarter of 2020 would comprise the front-driven, petrol-powered GLB250 and the all-paw, oil-burning GLB220d (which we drove at the international launch in Spain).

For the record, the GLB35 was revealed back in August 2019, offering 225 kW and 400 N.m to all four corners from a turbocharged 2,0-litre four-cylinder heart (yes, the same unit used by the A35 and CLA35). That’s enough for a sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 5,2 seconds, says Benz.

Interestingly, a late-November 2019 report out of Australia claimed Mercedes-Benz had no plans to build a full-fat Mercedes-AMG GLB45 variant to slot in above the 35-badged model.

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