New Mercedes-Benz GLA: 5 things you needs to know about Germany's new compact SUV

KUALA LUMPUR: Mercedes-Benz has finally replaced the GLA. The outgoing H247 has been coasting on facelifts and special editions for years, including the Nightfall Edition that Mercedes-Benz Malaysia rolled out earlier in 2026, so this is overdue.

Here's all you need to know about the new 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLA:

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1. It goes electric first, and the version Malaysia wants comes last

Three fully electric models launch in Europe from November. The GLA 200 electric makes 224 PS from a 58 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, the GLA 250+ electric produces 272 PS, and the GLA 350 4MATIC electric tops the range at 354 PS with a claimed 0 to 100 km/h of 5.4 seconds. Both upper models use an 85 kWh NMC pack. A 71 kWh version follows in early 2027.

The petrol-electric hybrid, which is the one most Malaysian buyers would actually finance, does not arrive until early 2027. It uses a new 1.5-litre turbo four with 48-volt assistance built into a new eight-speed electrified dual-clutch gearbox, and it can move on electric power alone in traffic. Useful, but not a plug-in hybrid, so nobody should expect big EV-range numbers.

2. The 800-volt charging is the real story. The 657 km claim is not

Mercedes-Benz is pushing a headline range of up to 657 km on WLTP. Read it carefully. It is an "up to" figure and the company never says which variant produces it, which points to the 85 kWh single-motor GLA 250+ on the smallest wheels. The 58 kWh entry car will be nowhere near it, and the cheap version is usually the one that lands here.

The genuinely new bit is the architecture. The electric GLA runs 800 volts, peaks at 320 kW on DC, and Mercedes-Benz claims up to 270 km of range added in ten minutes. AC is 11 kW standard with 22 kW optional, and an optional converter lets it use 400-volt chargers.

For comparison, the BMW iX1 eDrive20 M Sport at RM250,800 is a 400-volt car that caps at 130 kW. On paper the GLA is in another league. In practice, Malaysian DC chargers that can feed 320 kW are rare and mostly sit along the North-South Expressway, so the real-world advantage will be narrower than the spec sheet suggests.

"The new GLA makes advanced technology intuitively accessible. With MB.OS and its AI-supported functions, it anticipates needs, provides everyday support, and creates a noticeably more comfortable customer experience. A wide range of all-electric and electrified powertrains, a range of up to 657 kilometers, and up to 270 kilometers of range that can be recharged in just ten minutes set new standards for everyday electric mobility in this segment."
Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Chief Technology Officer, Development & Purchasing.

3. It is bigger inside, but the gains are smaller than expected

The wheelbase grows 61 mm to 2,790 mm. Front legroom is up 7 mm, rear legroom up 38 mm, headroom up 23 mm in front and 24 mm at the back. The boot goes from 340 to 410 litres, or 1,400 litres with the 40/20/40 bench folded, and the electric versions add a 107-litre frunk.

410 litres is progress but still behind the iX1's 490 litres. The frunk is the more interesting addition, and so is the towing figure: 4MATIC models can pull up to two tonnes braked with the optional semi-electric hitch, which is strong for an electric car this size.

Inside, the optional MBUX Superscreen puts a 10.25-inch driver display, a 14-inch centre screen and a 14-inch passenger screen behind one glass panel. A panoramic roof is standard. The seven-segment SKY CONTROL roof with its 172 illuminated stars is optional and, by Mercedes-Benz's own admission in the footnotes, not available yet.

4. The exterior is a proper redesign, not a nose job

The proportions have genuinely changed. The new GLA sits 20 mm lower than the H247, the wheelbase is 61 mm longer at 2,790 mm, and the rear track is wider. Combine that with sculpted shoulder lines and wheels that sit flush with the arches, from 18 up to 20 inches, and you get a car that finally looks planted rather than slightly puffed up. The old GLA always read as a hatchback on stilts. This one does not.

The surfacing is cleaner too. Mercedes-Benz has cut back the fussy character lines of the outgoing car in favour of larger, flatter surfaces broken by a few sharp creases, which is the direction the whole range is moving in. The front end stays upright with a fairly flat windscreen, so it keeps some SUV presence instead of dissolving into a crossover blob. Wraparound wheel arch cladding and a visual underride guard front and rear play up the off-road angle, roof rails carry over for anyone who actually uses a roof box, and there is chrome detailing at both ends depending on trim. 

Then there is the face. The electric GLA is the first Mercedes-Benz compact to get the illuminated iconic grille: a chrome frame around a smoked-glass-look mesh panel with the star sitting in the middle. Inside that mesh are 608 backlit polycarbonate light points and 158 micro-LEDs, and the whole thing can be optionally animated in sync with the car's chosen soundscape. In some markets the central star lights up as well, depending on local regulations.

Mercedes-Benz describes the effect as a greeting from a trusted friend. It is a light show on a bumper. Whether that reads as high-tech or as an aftermarket accessory is going to depend entirely on your taste, and it is the single element most likely to split opinion when the car reaches showrooms. Worth noting that the hybrid version does not get it. It uses a light-flooded star grille with 150 hot-stamped stars instead, with an LED light guide around the surround from PROGRESSIVE Line upwards, which is the more restrained look of the two.

The lighting signature carries through the whole car. Standard LED high-performance headlights use a chrome star as a physical design element, while the optional MULTIBEAM LED units shape the daytime running lights into a star. The tail lights are star-shaped too, joined by a full-width bar that stretches the rear visually, and with MULTIBEAM specified that bar can run welcome and farewell animations.

Trim choice changes the exterior meaningfully for the first time, because there are now four lines instead of two. Style Line is the base look with a chrome-framed grille and Silver Shadow panel. PROGRESSIVE Line switches on the illuminated grille contour. AMG Line darkens the grille panel to Dark Shadow Chrome and adds air intakes up front, gloss black bumper lower sections and door panels, plus 19 or 20-inch AMG wheels. The new AMG Line Plus piles on a gloss black spoiler lip, gloss black beltline trim and exclusive 20-inch alloys. Above all that sits the Night Edition, which pairs the AMG Line with the Night package in Cosmos Black magno paint, high-gloss black underride trim and black 20-inch ten-spoke aero wheels.

5. Malaysian pricing is the whole question, and duties have made it harder

German prices start at €48,599.60 with VAT for the GLA 200 electric, rising to €54,978 for the GLA 250+ and €58,107.70 for the GLA 350 4MATIC. At current rates that is roughly RM226,000, RM256,000 and RM270,000. Direct conversions are not forecasts, but they show the car is not cheap before a single ringgit of duty.

And duty is back. The blanket exemption for fully imported EVs ended on 31 December 2025, so CBU EVs now face 30 per cent import duty, 10 per cent excise and 10 per cent sales tax stacked on top of each other.

From 1 July 2026, MITI also requires imported EVs to clear a minimum CIF value of RM200,000 and 180 kW of output. A German-built electric GLA brought in fully imported would be priced out of contention against the iX1 at RM250,800 or the Volvo EC40 from RM248,888.

The sensible route is local assembly. Mercedes-Benz already builds the current GLA here as a CKD car from RM258,888, and CKD EVs stay exempt from excise duty and sales tax until the end of 2027. If the electric GLA is built in Malaysia it has a shot. If it comes in CBU, expect a low-volume halo car and expect the 2027 hybrid to be the version that actually sells.

But then again, we have yet to see the new CLA250+ EV arrive in Malaysian showrooms just yet and that was previewed in Malaysia in January 2026, so we don't actually know what the reception is like for these new Mercedes-Benz compact EVs in Malaysia. 

Perhaps Mercedes-Benz Malaysia will skip these new compacts in EV form altogether and just bring the petrol-electrified versions.

Nothing is imminent either way. Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has said nothing about local plans, and given Europe only starts deliveries in November, a Malaysian launch before late 2027 would be a surprise.

Worth watching closely though, because with the A-Class being wound down, the GLA carries more weight in the Mercedes-Benz Malaysia lineup than it ever has.

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