Diesel engines and German sport-utility vehicles might go together like Root Beer and vanilla ice cream for some, but there are still quite a few of them that don’t offer oil-burners underhood. Make that one less: Mercedes will reportedly sell a diesel GLK in the States by the end of the year.
That engine will be different from the one currently doing duty in American Mercedes-Benz diesels, which is a 3.0-liter turbocharged V-6 diesel. The new one is reportedly a four-cylinder model; although there’s no confirmation of exactly how much power it will produce, the new E300 Bluetec Hybrid sedan does have a 2.2-liter turbodiesel I-4 making 204 horsepower under the hood. Keep in mind, however, that the E300 isn’t destined for the States, so it’s still anyone’s call.
This would be the smallest overall offering to wear the three-pointed star and burn diesel fuel. The GL and ML SUVs have seen some success with Bluetec diesel variants–it’s been reported that nearly 30 percent of GLs are GL350 Bluetecs–and Mercedes also offers the engine in the R, S, and E-Class models.
The diesel GLK–which will also benefit from a mid-cycle refresh–will make its way to dealers sometime this fall, which looks like it should fend off competition from Audi, which is reportedly working on a diesel Q5. At current, BMW hasn’t announced any plans to make a diesel X3 for the U.S., only that it “wouldn’t rule it out.” Considering that a third of X5s sold are oil burners and the GLK’s diesel variant is predicted to push sales dramatically up (from roughly 24,000 this year to 30,000 next year), it might not be such a bad idea.
Source: motortrend.com
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