Please can someone remind Mercedes that cars are moving objects and not mini cinemas with seatbelts?
The new Mercedes GLB is currently undergoing cold-weather testing, but its interior has caught our attention. More specifically, a trio of television-sized screens that take up the entire dashboard.
There’s a passenger display that’s as big as the central touchscreen – both are likely to be 14 inches across if they’re the same ones as in the CLA – plus a large screen in front of the driver. The three screens sit in one imposing panel that stretches from door to door.
Living within the new screens is Mercedes’ fourth-generation MBUX infotainment system. This promises a new ‘zero layer’ top menu that lets you get to regularly used functions quickly. The MBUX Virtual Assistant voice control uses generative AI to answer your queries, and it’s made to feel more human with ‘various emotionally responsive avatars’. Feels like Mercedes’ designers came up with this after watching the Pixar film Inside Out.
The GLB also looks like it’ll be perfect if you’re afraid of the dark. Ambient lighting seems to seep from every gap and surface in the cabin – we wonder if this could be distracting when driving at night?
The ambient lighting is matched by a new panoramic sunroof, which can change opacity if you bother to find the setting within the touchscreen. You’ll notice it also has illuminated Mercedes three-pointed-star logos etched into it – which is too much in our eyes.
However, among all the screens, Mercedes has reintroduced proper rocker switches for the cruise control functions and the volume control, citing customer feedback.
Like the outgoing Mercedes GLB, the new car will be available as a five or seven-seater. Mercedes promises more headroom in the first and second rows, and more supportive seats in the second row. These seats recline, and slide forwards and backwards, and it’s now easier to access the third row of seats.
We’re pleased to see Isofix points in the third row of seats, meaning the new GLB will have four or five Isofix points in total.
The GLB will come with hybrid and electric versions – but the latter won’t be badged as the EQB this time. These options will be borrowed from the new CLA, and the new electric GLB is expected to have a maximum quoted range of over 400 miles.
It’s thought that two battery sizes will be available, as well as a dual-motor version with all-wheel drive and increased performance. The GLB with EQ Technology, as it’s expected to be called, will have a very high charge rate, so it’ll be able to charge at the UK’s fastest chargers.
The new Mercedes GLB will be officially launched on Monday 8 December, and will go on sale in early 2026.
Rivals to the GLB include the Peugeot 5008, Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tayron.
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