chilledbenz

It's looking more and more like MB will bring a BLK to the U.S. market. With Audi bringing the Q3 and BMW bringing an X1 it seems like Benz would be the only hold out. The idea seems good on paper, small engine, good gas mileage, great city car. The down sides would seem to be lack of cargo room and lack of people room for that matter. If they put one of the 4 cylinder diesels from the Euro market in it, making gobs of torque and getting 60 miles per gallon, it would be a welcomed addition. Right now there doesn't appear to be an exact engine in the works, with the rumor of BMW and MB sharing an engine as a possibility. Thats not too much of a stretch seeing how BMW and MB already share hybrid engine technology.

Just wondering what people on this board thought about yet another new vehicle to the MB fold? If it gets the green light for the U.S. market it would be available sometime in 2011 as a 2012 model.

http://www.leftlanenews.com/illustra...-benz-blk.html

http://www.benzinsider.com/2010/03/f...edes-benz-blk/

mr.mbenz

this is another marketing addition to the B class series. It could be better known as 'big little kar' ?

Good find...

chilledbenz

Lol yeah I'm aware of the B class...thankfully the BLK will be based on an all new version of it and not the current model.

phil17

I like it so far based on the looks. Looks nicer than the X1 IMO. I hope its not too inexpensive. I think overall the B class's price structure dilluted some of the prestige factor for MB whereas the 1 series did not for BMW. Just an opinion of mine. Not sure how much smaller it can get though cause the GLK isn't exactly that roomy and personally I find the EX very small and cramped so i hope this doesn't end up like that...

Kamen

Interesting but kind of unecessary. I like how the images has the GLk Sport Rims on it, looks good.

Don't really like the name though...BLK...sounds like a Burger King item.

RedRover

I can see making another SUV that is lighter. And I can see powering it with a 4 cyl diesel.
But it is hard for me to understand an SUV that is much smaller than the GLK.
I test drove the VW Tiguan. It is 4" shorter than the GLK. I would never go smaller than that in an SUV.
I think they need to keep these ultra small things in small countries.

NYCGLK

looks nice but what's the point of that car in US?

I don't think we'll get it. We don't even have 4 cyl C or GLK or C Wagon.

And what engine makes gobs of torque while getting 60 mph? Even VW Polo doesn't hit 60 mpg.

chilledbenz

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2008...es-benz-i.html

This line of engines have been rumored to become available in the GLK and the next C very soon in the States. The larger of the models sports 360lb of torque, but the gas mileage would be much lower on that particular model. The 204hp, 295lb torque engine would be more the suited for a small SUV like the BLK. For comparison, the GLK 350 has 268hp and a mere 258lb of torque from a gasoline six cylinder.

MBRedux

The boys at Larson sure do love their CG renderings.....

NYCGLK

but look at that torque graph, it's like an on/off engine...

andy_meng1024

Tail lights look like BMW to me.

chilledbenz

Yeah I see where your coming from. That's the biggest complaint I have with all diesel engines. By design it seems that they all put up huge torque at take off to give you the feeling that your going somewhere, when actually your not. But, that said, in a small vehicle like this, there sudden drop off shouldn't be as drastic. I think this BLK will eventually make it to the U.S. market, because auto makers hate to lose out on a segment, with BMW and Audi already rolling their entries out, Benz will be lagging behind. I don't however expect to see a diesel engine, a more realistic engine would be some sort of hybrid or even a full electric.

And to the other poster, yes its a CG rendering because the car doesn't exist lol. This was the best looking rendering that I've come across, there are some out there that just look like a mini GLK, which would be completely the wrong way to go with this segment. People don't want a mini version of anything, just ask Hummer.