Mercedes calls it a concept, but pull off the auto-show glitz — the roof-rail-mounted LEDs and the white-grained cebrano wood interior trim, for instance — and you're looking at the production version of the company's forthcoming GLK-class sport-utility. Derived from the C-class and looking somewhat uncomfortably similar to the 2009 Subaru Forester we showed you a few days ago, the GLK (the K, as it does as in the petite SLK roadster, stands for Kompaktheit) nonetheless arrives to take on pricier rivals, including BMW's X3si, Acura's RDX, Land Rover's LR2, and Infiniti's new EX35. The concept features all-wheel drive, a seven-speed manu-matic transmission, and a 2.2-liter Bluetec turbodiesel four-cylinder engine producing 170 horsepower. Look for the production version to offer the C-class sedan's range of six-cylinder gasoline engines: the 228-horsepower 3.0-liter and the 268-horsepower 3.5-liter. The Vision GLK Freeside (don't ask us what Freeside means) is set to debut at this month's North American International Auto Show.
More photos after the break, courtesy of Mercedes-Benz.
