PICS: MEET THE GLB, MERC’S SMALL 7-SEATER!

SUV's are all the rage right now and manufacturers are trying to fill every crease and crevice, heck they'll go out their way to make a new segment just to find another excuse of building a new SUV.

The X6, GLE Coupe and Porsche Cayenne Coupe are good examples of that.

But now they are finding a new excuse beside the "sporty coupe" version of an SUV, the "compact family SUV".

That's what Merc is calling the GLB. But what is the GLA then?

Well as Merc explains it the GLB is special because it's their first "compact" car to offer the seven seats. So, here's the deal, the GLA, is a jacked up A-Class, the GLC, a jacked up C-Class where's the jacked up B class?

Answer... The GLB

That's it, that's what the GLB is. At 2829 millimetres the GLB offers ten centimetres more wheelbase than the B-Class.

It obviously sits a lil bit higher too. It is based on the same platform as all Merc's compact cars including the A-Class, B-Class, CLA Coupé, CLA Shooting Brake and the GLA on, hence the compact family SUV tag.

The squarish shape is as the result of Mercedes trying to provide more leg and headroom in what is a small package.

Mercedes Benz GLB 7-seater.

They claim that the optional third row of seat offer headroom for people up to 1.68m tall. Those short people will have a USB port to keep their devices powered up.

Talking about powering up. The GLB will be powered by a choice two petrol engines, a 1.3-litre in the GLB 200 (120kW and 250Nm of torque), a 2.0-litre in the GLB 250 4Matic (165kW and 350Nm of torque).

Mercedes Benz GLB 7-seater.

The 200 uses a 7-Speed DCT and the 250 uses 8-speed DCT.

Diesel options are all 2.0-litres using an 8-Speed DCT. The 200d comes with 110kW and 320Nm of torque, 220d 4Matic with 140kW and 400Nm of torque. The 200d can also be optioned as an 4matic.

Mercedes Benz GLB 7-seater.