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China

Mercedes-Benz unveils urban SUV concept

Aaron Bragman, Cars.com, Fred Meier, USA TODAY
  • Swanky%2C small crossover SUV aimed at urban dwellers
  • Built on existing platform so good chance it will see production
  • High style inside and out

The last big auto show of the global season is upon us, and it is shaping up to be perhaps the biggest. Mercedes-Benz -- which wants to sell more cars in China like every other global automaker -- chose the Auto Shanghai 2013 motor show to unveil a new concept: the Concept GLA compact crossover.

Not just a show car, it is built off of the same platform as Mercedes-Benz's A- and B-Class vehicles that which we will see in the U.S. as the 2014 CLA sedan and B-Class Electric Drive, so it has a good chance of making it into production in some form.

It uses a 2.0-liter, 208-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a seven-speed automatic transmission and M-B's 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. So mechanically, the Concept GLA is certainly feasible, and given the Chinese market's thirst for small premium compact crossovers, it makes sense.

Styling is more concept-car fantasy than the mechanicals, though its exterior could easily be translated into a production vehicle, once the GLA loses things like laser-beam headlights and 20-inch wheels.

Fantasy feature: The GLA Concept's headlights are lasers that not only illuminate the road but can be used to project information, such as navigation arrows, on the road ahead -- and even project video from the car's entertainment system.

The company says that not only do the lasers help shine more light on the road, but they can also operate as projectors, displaying any visual media played through the car's entertainment system. While it may be fun to bring your own drive-in movie wherever you go, M-B says that it also could be used as a kind of next-generation head-up display, projecting things like navigation arrows on the road to help the driver and surrounding pedestrians know where the car is going.

Frankly, the legality of this concept seems rather unlikely.

Inside, a layered approach to the dash is attractive, featuring interesting painted plexiglass control buttons. Mercedes-Benz is going for the image of an expensive saddle with color and leather choices; there's 65 feet of hand-stitched cowhide in the four-passenger interior.

Another out-there show car features: The air vent surrounds are temperature sensitive — at 71 degrees they glow white, but if they get any warmer or colder, they glow red and blue, respectively.

Tone down the concept-car fun, and what you see here could easily be a new GLA-Class small urban crossover to complement Mercedes-Benz's push into entry-luxury market segments.

-- Cars.com's Kicking Tires

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