Mercedes GLA-Class Facelift Spied Lapping The Nurburgring

The Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class has a refresh in the works. The examples in these photos get practice around the Nürburgring for some testing.

As the camouflage shows, Mercedes made no significant changes to the revised GLA. The design revision consists of an updated grille and new taillights. The minor changes are thought to be because the automaker is preparing a new generation of small crossovers that ride on the MMA platform, rather than the current MFA underpinnings. It doesn’t make financial sense to make a huge investment into a vehicle that has bigger changes on the horizon.

The vehicle in these photos appears to be a standard version of the GLA-Class, not the AMG trim, due to the horizontal bars on the grille. The updated crossover appears to have new headlights. The camouflaged wrap hides the vehicle’s lower fascia, but we expect some design changes there.

At the rear, there is a camouflage strip across the hatchback. The cover only appears to hide the revised taillights.

We have no photos of the updated GLA-Class. The model may receive the latest version of Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment software. The updated A-Class gets a new steering wheel, so it makes sense that the revised crossover would have that too.

We don’t expect a powertrain change for the updated GLA-Class, which fits into the cost-saving strategy for the updated model. At the top of the range, there’s the GLA45 that makes 416 horsepower (310 kilowatts) and 369 pound-feet (500 Newton-meters) of torque from a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. The lower GLA35 has 302 hp (222 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm).

It’s unclear when the updated GLA-Class will debut. The existing version is from the 2021 model year, which is new enough for Mercedes not to rush into updating it.

Mercedes is reportedly planning to simplify its compact vehicle lineup for its next-generation offering. Class A and B don’t get a new iteration. GLA-, GLB-, and CLA-Class are getting new versions. For people who want an electric version of the vehicle like this, EQA and EQB are available.

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