Mercedes-Benz Unveils All-New Electric GLA With 657km Range: India Launch, Price Expectations

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled an all-new version of the GLA, its best-selling compact model, re-engineering the urban SUV around an electric-first design that will reach international markets in November. The reveal, on 29 July, underlines how far the German marque has shifted its entry range towards batteries.

Three fully electric variants arrive first. The GLA 200 electric produces 165kW from a 58kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, while the GLA 250+ electric steps up to 200kW. The range-topping 260kW GLA 350 4MATIC electric reaches 100kmph in 5.4 seconds. Both higher variants use an 85kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt pack, and the GLA claims up to 657km on the WLTP cycle.

The more consequential change sits under the skin. An 800-volt architecture allows DC charging at up to 320kW, adding as much as 270km in ten minutes — placing the GLA among the quicker-charging vehicles in its class. A smaller 71kWh version follows in early 2027, alongside 48-volt mild-hybrid petrol variants built on a new 1.5-litre turbo engine, preserving a combustion option for markets where charging infrastructure remains thin.

"With a broad portfolio of all-electric and high-tech electrified combustion variants, up to 657 kilometres of range and 270 kilometres recharged in just ten minutes, it redefines electric usability in its segment," said Jörg Burzer, the group's chief technology officer.

The car is longer and lower than its predecessor — the wheelbase grows 61mm to 2,790mm — and introduces the illuminated grille to the compact segment for the first time. Inside, a full-width MBUX Superscreen and a generative-AI voice assistant anchor a cabin repositioned as more spacious and screen-led.

For India, the timing is pointed but the specifics are not. Mercedes-Benz India sells the current GLA only with petrol and diesel engines, priced from about ₹51.80 lakh, as its entry SUV. The company has not confirmed whether, or when, the electric GLA will follow; on the pattern of recent launches, a 2027 arrival as an imported model looks the likeliest outcome.

The stakes are plain. Mercedes held its overall luxury sales lead in India through 2025-26 but has ceded the luxury-EV segment to BMW, whose locally assembled iX1 helped it to more than 65 per cent of luxury electric sales last fiscal year. A keenly priced GLA could narrow that gap.

Electric cars attract 5 per cent GST against 40 per cent for combustion luxury models, yet imported units still face duties of 70 per cent or more, and EVs were left out of India's recent trade deals with the European Union and the United States. That leaves local assembly — as Mercedes already undertakes for the EQS at Chakan — as the surest route to a sharp price, should it choose that path.