Mercedes will preview its BMW X4-punching crossover at the Shanghai Motor Show

By Ronan Glon April 13, 2015

Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe concept sketch — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Mercedes-Benz was surprisingly slow to respond to the segment-defying BMW X6. It took the company years to design and introduce the GLE Coupe, which made its public debut a few months ago at the Detroit Motor Show and is scheduled to go on sale across the nation in the coming weeks.

Strongly determined not to make the same mistake twice, the Stuttgart-based automaker has announced that it will travel to this year’s Shanghai Motor Show to unveil a close-to-production concept called GLC Coupe. The GLC Coupe is a concept in name only, and Mercedes’ top brass has all but confirmed that it will quickly spawn a brand new crossover aimed right at the BMW X4.

Designed as a more style-focused version of the upcoming GLC-Class, which will replace the GLK, the GLC Coupe falls in line with Mercedes’ current design language thanks to styling cues like a tall front end, a trapezoidal radiator grille with soft edges, sharp bullet-shaped headlights and a pair of power domes on the hood. Being a concept, it is inevitably fitted with oversized alloy wheels wrapped by ultra-low-profile tires, doors that don’t have exterior handles and futuristic-looking mirrors.

Overall, the GLC Coupe is noticeably inspired by the bigger GLE Coupe. The lone teaser sketch published by Mercedes suggests that the concept features a coupe-like roofline that peaks above the driver, pronounced haunches and sculpted flanks that reduce visual mass. Pictures of the concept’s rear fascia have not been published yet.

Mercedes-Benz is expected to fully unveil the GLC Coupe concept online in the next couple of days. The GLC-Class will almost certainly be presented to the public next fall at the Frankfurt Motor Show, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a toned-down, production-bound version of the GLC Coupe concept bow next January at the 2016 edition of the Detroit Motor Show.

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Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…

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