Mercedes working on GLA to rival BMW X1

Mercedes plans to take back the second place in global luxury sales from Audi in the coming years, and part of their plan hinges not on a coupe that’s longer than a boat, or a huge SUV. Instead, the three-pointed star brand hopes compact built on the MFA platform (Mercedes Front-Wheel Drive Architecture) will be the way of the future. Right now, we only know two of them in their official form, the A-Class hatchback and B-Class compact MPV. Mercedes has even built a new factory in Hungary to cope with demand, which has been high. But rumor has it there will be a total of five cars built on the MFA architecture. The third to arrive is expected to be the CLA, a sporty four-door sedan expected to be launched on the European market in 2013. According to CAR Magazine, Mercedes is also working on a compact SUV, about the size of the A-Class and also built on the MFA. It will reportedly be called the GLA, after the new Mercedes naming system under which all SUVs start with “G”. The SUV will not be too big, only about 110mm longer than the A-Class. And it will be a direct rival for the BMW X1 and Audi Q3.