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Mercedes confirms electric GLB, rules out AMG 45 version

The EQB will be revealed next year, expanding the GLB family. But we have bad news for fans of ludicrously fast and noisy small SUVs...


Mercedes-Benz is working on a battery-electric version of the new GLB SUV called EQB, but on the other side of the coin has ruled out producing a heated-up GLB45 AMG halo.

The electric GLB will sit alongside the EQA, which is to be a fully-electric version of the imminent next-generation GLA. The A-Class and B-Class platform-mates to this pair will instead come as plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

While not exact competitors, it would be reasonable to compare this future GLB EV (EQB) to the Hyundai Kona Electric and impending Tesla Model Y, both small(ish) electrified SUVs.

The GLB will launch in Australia from the middle of 2020 in GLB200 and 250 petrol guises priced from roughly $55,000, topped off by the AMG 35 with 225kW.

Could the EQB derivative hit Australian shores? Well the brand’s local arm has pledged to offer seven battery-electric models by the end of 2022, so it’s better than even money to lob locally at some point by then.

On the performance side, the Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 rocks the same 225kW 2.0-litre engine as the A35 AMG, with 4Matic AWD. But unlike other MFA cars such as the A-Class and CLA, there won’t be an even hotter GLB45 AMG with more than 300kW.

AMG product executive Matthias Schmidt contested this week when we asked him that the ‘35’ model was already in a class of one, as a small warmed-up seven-seat crossover.

But performance SUV fans need not fret, since that next-generation GLA (positioned as a sportier alternative to the practical GLB) will come in AMG 45 guise, with the revised new world-record-breaking 2.0-litre turbo engine aboard.

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