Creme Class

Merc’s biggest SUV has gone through a generation change to add some more luxury, comfort and opulence. Could it be the world’s best SUV?

- Agasti Kaulgi

America. A country as big as a continent. A country where people have a warped idea of portions and sizes. A country where a mug of coffee is large enough to keep a small town awake for a couple of days and a portion of fries can keep a person fed for a week. Things work very differently in the US of A as compared to the rest of the world.

The road that I’m driving this spanking new SUV down in, gives me ample time to think about the car and the country in which it’s produced. And that’s because I’m headed to the Bonneville Speedway, which, well, is situated in the middle of nowhere. And the road to get there involves me driving on an arrow-straight road for 160km. 160km! It’s got nothing around except for salt flats and rocky mountains. And on that particular day on a summer morning, it looked nothing short of stunning.

Speaking about stunning things, let me introduce you to the new Mercedes-Benz GLS. The image of a GLS that pops up in your mind until you see this is a big, brawny SUV that’s ready to eat up anything that comes in front of it. But this time, Merc has gone in for a more sophisticated look where there are nice curves and creases running the length of the car. Merc has found that right balance between being curvy and having great road presence. It’s all been done so well that it masks the humungous size of the car, yet makes it noticeable in the sea of SUVs. It isn’t like the Audi Q7 that can be mistaken as a large van and has the right amount of muscle to be distinguished as an SUV. There’s a distinct modern Merc look in its face and the same can be said about the tail-lamps. The rear is a bit simple, but the understated look does work in its favour.