NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe

The last time the GLC Coupe headlined a Mercedes-Benz stand at a motor show, it was a concept car in Shanghai. This time around it’s a full production reality.

The once-staid Benz is promising the swoopier 'Coupe' version of the GLC – which debuts in AMG 43 guise at New York — will be on sale in Europe by the middle of the year, with the rest of the world receiving their earliest cars by the third quarter of the year.

It’s also promising eight engine variants for the mid-size SUV, including four diesels, a plug-in hybrid and, naturally, a cruncher of an AMG sitting at the top of the range. All of them will deliver their power to the wheels through a magnesium-cased nine-speed automatic transmission that saves 12kg over the older seven-speed unit.

The headline act of the GLC 43 AMG Coupe will use its all-new 3.0-litre biturbo V6 petrol engine to deliver 270kW of power, which will be enough to hurl it to 100km/h in less than five seconds.

Teased earlier this week in an official sketch, the five-seat GLC Coupe production car is surprisingly faithful to the Shanghai concept, right down to its 4.73-metre overall length.

That makes it around 80mm longer than the more-conservative, more traditional-looking GLC SUV on which it’s based, though it shares the same 2.87-metre wheelbase.

"The GLC Coupé reflects our iconic Mercedes-Benz coupé design while symbolising the bipolarity of our brand – it is 'hot and cool'," sprouted Daimler’s head of design, Gorden Wagener.

“With its design idiom of sensual purity, it perfectly embodies our styling philosophy while at the same time representing contemporary luxury."

At 1.6 metres high, its roofline comes in around 40mm lower than the standard GLC, too, in an effort to accentuate its sportier philosophy.

Even that can change, though. The GLC Coupe family will come with a choice of steel springs or, attached to multi-chamber air suspension damping, weight-saving (fibreglass-reinforced) plastic springs. When the GLC Coupe is travelling at speed or is has its Dynamic Select driving setup system switched to Sport mode, it lowers the body another 15mm, delivering a 55mm difference to the donor car.

It has other tricks, including the ability to lower the cargo area by 40mm to help people lift their shopping or luggage in and out of the back of the SUV.

It pushes the added sportiness in other ways, with the Direct Steer electro-mechanical steering system tightened up for faster responses. It’s down from the GLC’s 16.1:1 ratio to 15.1:1 and while the car runs on standard 18-inch alloy wheels, the options stretch up to 20 inches.

The GLC Coupe scores the sportier version of the Benz grille, too, with a single horizontal louvre and an integrated round Benz logo in the middle of it.

It boasts a class-leading drag coefficient of 0.31Cd thanks to detail aerodynamic engineering like shutters over the radiator that only open when the cooling air is actually needed.

The fat part of the GLC Coupe sales bell curve will be occupied by the diesel-powered GLC 220d and the GLC 250d 4MATIC Coupe.

The 220d version has 125kW of power and 400Nm of torque from its 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, and Benz is claiming an NEDC combined figure of 5.0L/100km for it.

It’s also claiming a 0-100km/h acceleration figure of 8.3 seconds and a top speed of 210km/h.

The 250d version ekes 150kW and 500Nm from the same engine and offers the same NEDC figure, along with the same claimed CO2 emissions figure of 131g/km.

It’s faster, though, with the 0-100km/h time cut to 7.6 seconds and the top speed lifted to 220km/h.

The four-cylinder petrol-powered GLC 250 Coupe uses its 2.0-litre turbo motor to deliver 155kW of power and 350Nm of torque, which gets it to 100km/h in 7.3 seconds and pushes it to a 222km/h top speed. It pays a price at the pump, though, with Benz claiming an NEDC number of 7.0L/100km and a 159g/km CO2 figure.

Other than the entry-level petrol GLC 220 Coupe, all versions will be all-wheel drive and only the plug-in hybrid GLC 350e 4MATIC Coupe use the nine-speed automatic transmission.

Benz insists it has a seven-speed transmission that has been developed for plug-in hybrid duty. It has, but the reality is that it’s a lower-tech transmission in its mechanical work, even if it’s higher tech in what it does with its electronic comings and goings.

The plug-in hybrid will combine the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine with a lithium-ion battery, a claimed 30km of pure-electric running and a disc-shaped electric motor inside the automatic transmission. Benz insists its CO2 emissions will be as low as 59g/km, despite having 235kW of total system power and a sprint time to 100km/h of just 5.9 seconds.

With a body and structure that is a mix of aluminium, high- and ultra-high strength steels, Benz claims the lightest of the GLC Coupe runners, the petrol-powered GLC 250 Coupe, tips in at 1710kg.

Benz has fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the coupe book, though, insisting the GLC Coupe’s aerodynamics mean rainwater can’t possibly land on the rear screen, so it forgoes a rear wiper. As Porsche 911 owners will attest, rain usually has no qualms about hitting even the most aerodynamic of rear-window angles at reverse-parking speeds. Mercedes-Benz yesterday did not return calls about whether a rear wiper will be optional.