[CalmConquests]

I think Mercedes Benz are kidding themselves. I thought it was funny when they introduced an "off-road" Package on something as incompatible with off-roading as the GLA.

It would have made sense if they at-least called it the " Rough-Road" package.

Now this a Rs.1.5 Lakh price hike. I mean, it just makes me laugh.

[Arnav612]

Prices are going absolutely haywire for Mercedes over the last 3-4 years!
It was just 2017 where you were getting a C Class at the price of today's GLA.

I think it wiser to let it depreciate and pickup a pre owned one in a few years.

Otherwise, I find it looking fantastic! Much more proportionate and even, than the previous gen without random bulges and creases, very very balanced design.

Interiors too, look great. All black would look drool-worthy. MB-UX, is a runaway success as compared to the previous COMAND system which was rather basic.

Overall I have very mixed predictions for how the car will perform in the market.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

GLA Media Car shows animation of the GLE front fascia on start up

Sorry for going off-topic but there is nothing wrong with this particular GLA media car, even the GLS gets the GLE front fascia while start up!



I am surprised Mercedes-Benz didn’t notice this!

[LaRoca]

Originally Posted by sampadroy

Prices (ex-showroom) of the GLA have been officially increased on the Mercedes India website.

A full 1.5L increment in all the variants.


Attachment 2163926

As if it makes a huge impact on sales. Blah!

If a person can splurge more than 40L for a depreciating asset like a car, would you really think it makes a game-changing difference?

[Shreyas_H]

Originally Posted by LaRoca

As if it makes a huge impact on sales. Blah!

If a person can splurge more than 40L for a depreciating asset like a car, would you really think it makes a game-changing difference?

Well everyone's financial situation is different. I'm curious, why would you call sometime buying a 40 lac+ car greedy?

Coming to the topic, the pricing for the Germans has been steadily going up, not sure how they can sustain current volumes at these prices without discounting!

As many have said before this car will be a great pick in the used car market 3-4 years down the line.

[84.monsoon]

Had a really funny WhatsApp exchange last week with an MBA batchmate of mine, who was about to go out and buy the new GLA. The guy is highly brand-conscious and almost always buys Mercedes cars. He thinks the world off the brand and strongly believes that every part in their cars is technologically sophisticated and superior to even the other two German Brands, leave alone mainstream cars. He is in fact, very vocal about his scorn for cars below 25 lacs, and always claimed these cars had engines and transmissions that were are only built to "Half the specification quality of Mercedes".

He announced in the group that he was going to buy the new GLA - there was "Whatsapp applause" all around from batchmates. Like a true BHP-ian friend, as we all are to those who never lifted the bonnets of their cars, I wanted to safeguard him from his potentially rash purchase instincts.

I sent him a PM asking him if he was going to buy the Petrol or Diesel. Now, this guy is a big Petrol fan and fancies himself as a "Green Guy", who would never touch Diesels with a barge pole. He shot back at me, saying, he was of course going for the petrol GLA. Pat went my reply - I sent him a piece, revealing that the engine used in the GLA 200 is the same one that one could buy in the Renault Duster Turbo for about 12 lacs. If one was feeling generous, they could spend an additional lakh and get the Nissan Kicks, with the same engine but better build and interiors! The transmission in the GLA 200 is a DCT, but the Duster/Kicks CVT is also a very efficient transmission, and drives very well in terms of shift quality and smoothness. The GLA and the Duster are apart only by about a little over a second in 0-100 acceleration times. My friend went totally berserk - it was hard to prove to him the engines were the same, but he finally admitted the fact to himself, after seeing multiple articles in Indian and Foreign press that I sent him.

He is now tending towards breaking his cardinal rule of not buying diesels and going to the GLA 220 Diesel, after I explained to him why Diesels are not necessarily dirty and the Mercedes OM 654 engine probably emits less greenhouse gases per kilometer of travel, than the petrol - due to the increased fuel efficiency and the advances in diesel technology. I sent him this post of mine on team-bhp : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4872922 (A Close Look : Kia Sonet)
He is still not 100% convinced about Diesels, but absolutely sure he does not want the Duster Engine! His only other option is to put down another 20 lacs and go for the AMG trim.

So much so for exclusivity of parts and powertrains in luxury automobiles. Mainstream carmakers have deeper pockets and a more diversified base of cars and markets to spread their investments in developing engine technology over - especially when it comes to smaller capacity engines.

[sampadroy]

Originally Posted by LaRoca

As if it makes a huge impact on sales. Blah!

If a person can splurge more than 40L for a depreciating asset like a car, would you really think it makes a game-changing difference?

It is only expected that esteemed members of Team-BHP use a language and tenor as laid down in the rules of the forum .

Maybe for some, a couple of lacs don't have the value but the majority of entry-level luxury car buyers, do feel the pinch when making the purchase. Any serious student of marketing will appreciate that a car like GLA is just an entry-level vehicle for many who aspire just to own a Mercedes and for these type of buyer every penny counts and their affordability varies hugely, otherwise every Mercedes buyer would start with only the C class or the GLC or the E class since money is that easy to come by.
Unfortunately, that is not the case...

[sid_deb]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Had a really funny WhatsApp exchange last week with an MBA batchmate of mine, who was about to go out and buy the new GLA.

This is indeed funny, thanks for sharing.

While you very rightly saved your friend from plonking his hard-earned money on this mediocre engine, wondering how many naive buyers will unknowingly buy this spec. It will be a disaster in the used car market.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

I sent him this post of mine on team-bhp : https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4872922 (A Close Look : Kia Sonet)
The norm for NOx from diesel vehicles in BS4 was at 250mg/km, and it is now reduced to 80mg/km in BS6 diesel engines. Petrol vehicles have to reach 60 mg/km, so slightly better in this regard. However, this is off-set by the higher fuel efficiency of the diesel. In city running, where pollution is a key concern, the Sonet DCT will probably give 8-9 kpl, while the diesel will do 13-14 kpl. This 5 kpl advantage in fuel efficiency more than offsets the 20 mg/km additional NOX emissions of the Diesel.

While I agree diesels in BS6 era are better, as mentioned by you the difference is 20mg/km, fuel efficiency matters if the measurement is based on fuel volume(something like 20mg/ltr). Since it's based on km, I do not think fuel efficiency should matter.

Also it's my understanding that Lean NOx trap like the one's used in Creta and Seltos is still dirty.

[RaghuVis]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Had a really funny WhatsApp exchange last week with an MBA batchmate of mine, who was about to go out and buy the new GLA. The guy is highly brand-conscious and almost always buys Mercedes cars.

I am a bit confused here - Is he avoiding the car only due to same engine used in a sub 25L car? Is your batchmate that Silly?

Off - topic:
Close to 3.8 Million people have died in last one year due to Covid (I am sure this is extremely underreported number) and your friend here has his status to worry about!

PS: I liked how you mentioned him as Batchmate and not as Friend

[thechinmay]

Originally Posted by sampadroy

It is only expected that esteemed members of Team-BHP use a language and tenor as laid down in the rules of the forum .

Maybe for some, a couple of lacs don't have the value but the majority of entry-level luxury car buyers, do feel the pinch when making the purchase. Any serious student of marketing will appreciate that a car like GLA is just an entry-level vehicle for many who aspire just to own a Mercedes and for these type of buyer every penny counts and their affordability varies hugely, otherwise every Mercedes buyer would start with only the C class or the GLC or the E class since money is that easy to come by.
Unfortunately, that is not the case...

Absolutely! At least in this segment, if you leave aside the few people who already have something like an S Class and are buying this as a city runabout, buyers will tend to be quite price conscious. They are also more likely to be flexible on the brand as the big 3 have almost equal cachet in the Indian context. They are thus most likely to cross shop because of price considerations than the higher segment.
Also, for a lot of people, these segments serve as an introduction to the brand and if they have a positive experience, they tend to upgrade within the brand.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Had a really funny WhatsApp exchange last week with an MBA batchmate of mine, who was about to go out and buy the new GLA. The guy is highly brand-conscious and almost always buys Mercedes cars. He thinks the world off the brand and strongly believes that every part in their cars is technologically sophisticated and superior to even the other two German Brands, leave alone mainstream cars. He is in fact, very vocal about his scorn for cars below 25 lacs, and always claimed these cars had engines and transmissions that were are only built to "Half the specification quality of Mercedes".

He announced in the group that he was going to buy the new GLA - there was "Whatsapp applause" all around from batchmates. Like a true BHP-ian friend, as we all are to those who never lifted the bonnets of their cars, I wanted to safeguard him from his potentially rash purchase instincts.



So much so for exclusivity of parts and powertrains in luxury automobiles. Mainstream carmakers have deeper pockets and a more diversified base of cars and markets to spread their investments in developing engine technology over - especially when it comes to smaller capacity engines.

Good of you to educate your friend. Wondering, what his reaction would have been if you had told him of the engine after he bought the car!! Would he have been that image conscious to dispose it off?

I know of one extremely rich family that disposed their 1 year old Jaguar ( dont know the exact model details ) because a it came in contact with a pig!!.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Had a really funny WhatsApp exchange last week with an MBA batchmate of mine, who was about to go out and buy the new GLA. The guy is highly brand-conscious and almost always buys Mercedes cars. He thinks the world off the brand and strongly believes that every part in their cars is technologically sophisticated and superior to even the other two German Brands, leave alone mainstream cars. He is in fact, very vocal about his scorn for cars below 25 lacs, and always claimed these cars had engines and transmissions that were are only built to "Half the specification quality of Mercedes".

Victim of fanboyism and/or brand affinity. Misplaced notions on status. It’s quite common.

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Pat went my reply - I sent him a piece, revealing that the engine used in the GLA 200 is the same one that one could buy in the Renault Duster Turbo for about 12 lacs. If one was feeling generous, they could spend an additional lakh and get the Nissan Kicks, with the same engine but better build and interiors! The transmission in the GLA 200 is a DCT, but the Duster/Kicks CVT is also a very efficient transmission, and drives very well in terms of shift quality and smoothness. The GLA and the Duster are apart only by about a little over a second in 0-100 acceleration times. My friend went totally berserk - it was hard to prove to him the engines were the same, but he finally admitted the fact to himself, after seeing multiple articles in Indian and Foreign press that I sent him.

I understand the fact that the engine in the A200/GLA200 isn’t as refined as one would expect a Mercedes engine should be. It’s also a fact that cars like the Golf can sprint faster to the ton. The general advice is to pick the C class sedan instead of the A class sedan or the relevant next level crossover or engine option in the Mercedes stable. However, there’s a segment of people who are after the logo and/or the non-drivetrain related experience a Mercedes vehicle offers. IMHO there’s nothing wrong with it as long as they see the value in it. I have a couple of friends/colleagues who have cars like the 318i, 328i, C200 or XC60 diesel and they have no clue on what’s under the bonnet and they aren’t interested in the power output in any way. Their respective cars suit their needs.

The GLA200 pricing in India is eye-watering and I personally see it as a rip-off. Where the hell is the cost savings from using an engine that’s shared with Renault-Nissan?!

What is this particular GLA customer’s issue? The GLA200 engine’s refinement or that it’s shared with Renault? If it’s the latter then I feel sorry for him. He’s probably going to be spending more $ just to prove a point (to I don’t know who).

I find it inappropriate to suggest a Duster/Kicks to someone who’s shopping for a GLA just based on the drivetrain. There are so many other areas where the GLA is better but is it so much better to justify the price gap? Perhaps not but that’s to blame the way luxury cars are priced in India.

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

So much so for exclusivity of parts and powertrains in luxury automobiles.

There’s only a thin line of separation between brand value dilution and expanding their target market size. The German big-three have lowered their entry point and expanded their market but there’s the argument against it sighting how they are arguably losing their edge in technological innovation and exclusivity.

Originally Posted by m8002?

I know of one extremely rich family that disposed their 1 year old Jaguar ( dont know the exact model details ) because a it came in contact with a pig!!.

It’s got something to do with superstition in TN. I remember that it was considered to be a bad omen if a vehicle hit a pig. They would hide the fact that the vehicle hit a pig when selling it. It sounds hilarious but yeah such things happen.

Mod Note: BHPian karan561's Mercedes-Benz GLA Review has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!