WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Finding out if the S-Class of SUVs really lives up to its name

- Aditya Upadhyaula

What is a luxury car? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially after driving the Mercedes-Benz GLS 400d, the flagship of the three-pointed-star SUV lineup. Normally, the luxury features in a car are so in-your-face, it’s hard to ignore them, but in the GLS I had to go searching for them. From the outside, only one word comes to mind while describing the GLS — imposing. With its massive upright grille and piercing headlights, the GLS makes its presence felt whether you like it or not. You’re not showing up in a subtle manner in this, I can tell you that much. From the side, you see just how long the car is. It is, after all, a three-row SUV, and one that doesn’t make any compromises on space.

The GLS-Class now conforms to Mercedes’s new design language, and compared to the previous generation model, the GLS looks a lot more athletic. Narrow LED headlamps, tail-lamps and some strategically-placed curves on its side make it seem shorter than it is, and the resulting squat stance is very likeable. The GLS is missing a few essentials, though, if you ask me. Walk up to the car with the key in your pocket and tug at the door handle and most cars that cost a tenth of what this does, unlock the doors and grant you entry into the cabin, but not so in the GLS. You have to take out the key, push the unlock button like a commoner and only then can you enter. It seems like a glaring omission, but you’re usually not getting into the driver’s seat of an S-Class, are you?