New 2016 Mercedes GLE-Class SUV comes to replace your ML-Class

When the original Mercedes-Benz M-Class came forth in 1998 — from a factory in Alabama, of all places — there was a certain amount of skepticism. Sure, it looked the part, and it mostly drove like one, but would German luxury buyers really take to a high-riding SUV?

Today, it's safe to ask whether luxury buyers really want anything else. Where it once stood alone, the Mercedes-Benz midsize SUV is now one of roughly 20 such models for sale in the United States. And despite having its best sales year ever in 2014 — at 46,726 copies — the M-Class was passed by the BMW X5 and the lighter, less expensive models from Asian luxury makes.

2016 Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S

Hence the arrival of this, a revamped SUV that now adopts the new Mercedes-Benz nomenclature to be called GLE, because names on luxury cars are apparently as welcome as squeegee men. The engine range remains the same — from a 2.5-liter diesel to two variants of V-6s at 302 hp and 329 hp, and the stonking 5.4-liter twin-turbo V-8, good for up to 577 hp and 561 lb-ft of torque — with one exception: the addition of a plug-in hybrid.

The new GLE 550e 4Matic combines a 329-hp V-6 with a 114-hp electric motor and 8.8 kWh of batteries, which can recover energy from the road or get charged via a wall outlet in two hours. Rare for a plug-in hybrid, the GLE 550e can hit 81 mph in all-electric mode, and can use the car's navigation system to plot the most efficient route including traffic.

While Mercedes will sell a GLE350 with rear-wheel-drive only, all other models come with the standard four-wheel-drive, which now sports a pure OFFROAD+ (caps lock specified) setting that can not just lock differentials but raise the SUV up to 11 inches, for those rare times when a Mercedes owner wants to compete with a Land Rover fan to cross a mud bog.

With the GLA taking care of the entry-level SUV luxury market, Mercedes will likely keep the GLE-Class in the same sticker price range as the current model — roughly $48,000 to $90,000. Those numbers sound a lot less imposing when translated into multi-year leases, the method by which a majority will be sold. After 17 years on the market, the Mercedes SUV has built a loyal following, and its likely Mercedes dealers will push those 2014 sales records higher — once they explain what the darn thing is named now.