The Mercedes-Benz GLE was initially introduced by the German luxury vehicle manufacturer during the New York Auto Show in April. Following this introduction, a rendering of the next generation vehicle emerged recently, as indicated on a report from gtspirit.com. The GLE is essentially a facelift of the M-Class and is expected to reach the market by 2018. Due to this, numerous speculations emerged on the possible modifications it will feature compared to the M-Class.

Industry watchers expect a new lightweight platform to be used on the next-generation GLE in order to reduce its weight compared to the existing model. Together with enhancements on the suspension, gearbox as well as its all-wheel-drive system, the upcoming luxury vehicle may be around 140 kilograms lighter compared to the existing car. The drag coefficient will also go down to 0.30 from 0.32 due to changes in its design.

The 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLE63 AMG is expected to feature the 4.0-liter bi-turbo V8 engine of AMG, which is currently being used on the AMG GT and AMG C63. The new engine will replace the 5.5-liter bi-turbo V8 engine of the current model. These changes may not have any effect on the power output and torque of the upcoming model. The new Mercedes-Benz GLE will likely have the same power output and torque of the existing range-topping GLE 63 S, which is at 577HP and 561 lb-ft, respectively.