The sleek and compact GLC 300 SUV is a key part of Mercedes-Benz growth plans in the U.S.
The German luxury automaker, which recently moved its U.S. division to metro Atlanta, said 2015 will be a record sales year, and 2016 should be yet another. Mercedes plans to introduce nine new models in 2016, and U.S. division CEO Steve Cannon said the GLC is critical to the mission.
“It is going to be one of the most important volume models in the United States for Mercedes-Benz,” Cannon said. “Over time, I don’t think it will happen in the first year or maybe the second, but we believe it will become our hottest selling sport utility.”
The vehicle which replaces the GLK, a top-selling luxury SUV, is longer, wider and yet lighter than the outgoing model. It has a more efficient turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, replacing a larger six-cylinder power plant. (Click here to see a gallery of the GLC 300.)
The U.S. is the world’s biggest SUV market, and Mercedes chose its new U.S. hub as the place to launch its newest model, the first time the company has ever launched a product in Atlanta.
“The luxury market is growing at almost twice the rate of the general auto market, and sport utilities are delivering all the growth in the U.S. market right now,” he said. “Luxury, minus the trucks, would be almost flat,”
Metro Atlanta’s newest corporate resident, which last winter moved its U.S. headquarters to the area from New Jersey, is wasting little time in putting down roots. The company’s name and three-pointed star logo are already slated to adorn the new Atlanta Falcons stadium downtown, as well as a new office complex planned in north Fulton County.
In this Sunday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and on our premium website MyAJC.com, we look at some of the ways Mercedes is making itself known in the Atlanta area and update its progress in hiring and designing its new corporate campus.
