Beijing built Mercedes GLK pops out for pictures with minor facelift and 2.0T

Beijing-Benz, Industry News | FrankF | July 14, 2011 at 11:07 am

Beijing-Benz, the joint venture between Beijing Auto Industry Corp (BAIC) and Mercedes Benz have finally unveiled their locally built GLK for the Chinese market. The premium crossover market has certainly heated up in the past few months since the market leaders, Audi, introduced the Q5 meaning that Audi’s Germanic rivals have had to rush their own models into competition to keep up with the Q5′s run away sales.

The GLK is currently sold in China as an imported model with a 3.0 and 3.5L V6 engines which of course makes it considerably more expensive than the nearest Audi Q5 2.0T, but by producing it locally Mercedes will be able to drop the price by a considerable amount. Conservative estimates might place the the Chinese built GLK at 370,000rmb and rising when it launches later this year. BMW are expected to launch their 2.0T BMW X1 as a locally made model in late 2011 or early 2012 as well.

FrankF

Frank entered the automotive industry via his father's instructions. He grew up with cars around him, especially as his father was a major auto restorer, Frank's childhood was spent passing beers, tools and coffee to his father whilst he explained the ins and outs of engines. Frank now works in the Chinese car industry at a specific manufacturer.