AUTOSHOWMercedes comes to Motown with modest SUV
By Marcel Michelson
DETROIT, Jan 12 (Reuters) - German luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz unveiled a small sports utility vehicle (SUV) on Saturday to pursue a profitable niche market as more carmakers target upgrades in off-road models for urban drivers.
The Mercedes Vision GLK Freeside is a concept car. But a vehicle similar to it will be launched in Europe in 2008 and in the United States in 2009, as automakers say growth potential remains in such niche segments even when overall car sales may be flat or lower if consumer spending slows.
Mercedes also thinks the GLK could allow give it an edge on on bigger premium carmaker BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) with its X3 model.
“This model is the most important model for the new year,” Dieter Zetsche, Daimler (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) board chairman and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, told reporters at the unveiling on the eve of the annual North American International Auto Show here.
The GLK Freeside is small for a SUV at 4.52 metres length but boasts luxury features with off-road engineering: a Bluetec 4-cylinder engine, a 7-speed automatic transmission and 4Matic all-wheel drive.
“It’s a relatively important model, since until now it’s been left for BMW with its X3 and now Volkswagen (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) has joined the competition with its Tiguan,” said UniCredit analyst Georg Stuerzer. “Moreover, the segment is one of the few in America and Europe that is currently growing.”
He expects the strength of Mercedes’ brand name will ensure the model will be a success with about 80,000 in unit sales in its first 12 months of production. Continued…
Tags: american international auto show, Auto, Auto Show, automaker, automakers, BMW, Car Sales, cars, consumer spending, Geo, gm, international auto show, launch, lows, Mercedes-Benz, national auto, north american international auto, reuters, Volkswagen
