GLC-Class SUV

Segment
SUV

To say that the GLC is a vital product for Mercedes-Benz would be like saying its AMG models pack a bit of a punch, or its Maybachs are kind of plush. In other words, a gross understatement. So it came as little surprise when the German automaker rolled out a refresh just three years after it first launched. And now the updated GLCs have started rolling off the assembly line.

Not in Alabama, mind you, where Mercedes builds the GLE and GLS. Instead the GLC is built in Germany at the same Bremen plant where the previous GLK was manufactured.

There it shares its flexible assembly line with the C-Class sedan and wagon, as well as the new EQC – the electric version of the GLC, which is itself offered in both standard five-door and slant-backed Coupe body-styles.

"The GLC is one of the most successful volume models for Mercedes-Benz and the Bremen plant," noted site manager Dr Markus Keicher. "With today's start of production of the revised model series, our team once more demonstrates what it stands for: highest quality, flexibility, passion and motivation. The colleagues do everything in their power to fulfil the wishes of the customer perfectly. We are proud of that."

As well they should be. Since first entering the compact luxury crossover market in 2008 with the preceding GLK, Mercedes has sold more than 1.5 million of them, making it not only the company's most successful crossover model, but its most popular model of any kind.

Of the 27,080 vehicles Mercedes sold here in the United States last month, the GLC accounted for 3,882 - over a quarter of its sales volume, even higher than the entire C-Class, and more than the GLE, GLS, and G-Class combined. Last year it sold nearly 70,000 of them here, and the updates stand to move even faster off dealer lots.