New Mercedes GLC is now available to order, priced from £39,420

Mercedes-Benz’s new GLC SUV is now available to order with prices starting from just under £40,000.

The Audi Q5-rivalling 4x4 has been facelifted for the new model year, with new headlights and slightly reworked bumpers, as well as new on-board technology. The car will also launch with two RDE2-compliant diesel engines at launch, meaning company car tax is four percent lower than it otherwise would be.

For the £39,420 starting price, then, you get the entry-level GLC 220 d 4Matic Sport model. As standard, it comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, Agility Control Comfort suspension and privacy glass, while the interior gets the new MBUX multimedia system with a reversing camera and a 10.25-inch touchscreen display. It has parking assistance kit as standard, too, as well as heated seats.

You get the new 2-litre diesel engine, too, complete with 191 bhp and 295 lb-ft of torque. Sending its power to all four wheels, it can race from a standstill to 62 mph in less than eight seconds and return 40.9 mpg. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 137 g per kilometre put it in the 31 percent company car tax bracket for 2019/20.

Sitting above the Sport model in the range is the AMG Line model, which costs £41,170. That adds 19-inch AMG wheels to the mix, along with sports suspension and sportier bumpers. You also get AMG sports seats with half-leather, half-microfibre trim, and the choice of opting for the Coupe bodystyle. Although slightly less roomy and costing £44,045, the Coupe is more aerodynamic, meaning fuel economy improves slightly.

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Further up the range is the AMG Line Premium, which costs £44,670 in standard SUV form and £47,545 in Coupe guise. That variant adds yet more goodies to the kit list, with a 12.3-inch digital instrument display, running boards and Multibeam LED headlights all featuring. You get full-leather upholstery, too, and larger 19-inch wheels, not to mention the smartphone integration and augmented reality navigation, which uses a camera to display a live view of the road ahead on the infotainment screen, then superimpose directions to help you find your way.

The other possibility provided by the AMG Line Premium car is the option of a more powerful ‘300 d’ engine. It commands a £2,375 premium over the ‘220 d’, despite still being a 2-litre diesel, but it’s been tuned to produce 241 bhp. That means 0-62 mph takes around 6.5 seconds, but fuel economy falters. In Coupe form, the 300 d will return 39.8 mpg, while the standard SUV returns 39.2 mpg.

Whether you like those figures or not, however, it’s your only choice if you want to climb higher up the GLC range. The high-end AMG Line Premium Plus and AMG Line Premium Plus Ultimate models are only available with the high-powered engine, which may help to explain their lofty price tags. For those choosing the SUV shape, they cost £50,795 and £54,795 respectively, while the Coupe versions cost £53,670 and £57,670.

That money gets you quite a bit of kit, though. The Premium Plus gets you a panoramic roof, 20-inch alloy wheels and a Burmeister surround-sound system, while the Premium Plus Ultimate versions get air suspension and the MBUX interior assistant system, an AI computer that can predict changes to the interior settings without the need for occupants to press buttons.