The 2027 Mercedes GLE and GLS Keep Alabama Busy

Mercedes-Benz’s 2027 GLE and GLS reach U.S. dealers as a second facelift of a 2020 body, dressed in more than 140 stars and three 12.3-inch screens. The company says the SUVs are 40% new. The architecture underneath is not.

U.S. dealers started receiving the first copies in September 2026, after a world premiere on March 31 at the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, factory that builds them. That plant, not a new platform, is what this refresh is for.

$4 Billion More for the Same Alabama SUVs

Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Vance has assembled these trucks since the M-Class arrived in 1997. On the day the 2027 GLE and GLS were shown, the company also marked the five millionth SUV built in Alabama and said it will put another $4 billion into the Tuscaloosa plant by 2030, part of more than $7 billion planned for U.S. operations.

About 5,800 people work there. Roughly 60 percent of what they build is exported, which makes the factory one of the largest auto exporters in the country. The line already turns out the GLE, GLE Coupe, GLS, AMG versions, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, and the EQE and EQS SUVs. The GLC is scheduled to join in the next few years.

THE TUSCALOOSA LEDGER

• Plant jobs: About 5,800 people work at Mercedes-Benz U.S. International.
• Export share: Roughly 60 percent of output leaves the United States.
• U.S. spend: More than $7 billion is planned by 2030, with $4 billion tagged for Tuscaloosa.
• Wider payroll: Mercedes-Benz counts 10,600 direct U.S. jobs and says it supports almost 160,000 roles, including 386 dealers that employ 27,000 people.

Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management at Mercedes-Benz Group, used the premiere to tie the new sheetmetal to that footprint.

The new GLE and GLS, alongside the EQE SUV, the EQS SUV and the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV, are symbols of our commitment to Alabama.

Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management, Mercedes-Benz Group AG

A second facelift is a cheap way to keep a paid-for body on a line that already feeds U.S. stores and overseas docks. Shoppers get new lamps and a new dashboard. The factory gets another run of the same unibody.

The GLE Just Had Its Best U.S. Year

Mercedes-Benz USA retailed 303,200 passenger cars in 2025, up 1 percent, plus 40,000 vans, down 14 percent, for 343,200 units. The Alabama-built GLE did the heavy lifting. Mercedes-Benz USA said GLE sales rose 14 percent for the best retail year the nameplate has had, with demand up 12 percent in the fourth quarter. The GLC jumped 20 percent. AMG had its best year, up 12 percent, and the G-Class rose 26 percent.

That is not a franchise in trouble. It is a franchise Mercedes chose not to re-platform. The GLE already outsells the rest of the passenger-car lineup in the United States, and the current body has been in U.S. showrooms since the 2020 model year. Spending a full generation’s money on a new shell would have idled a plant that just posted a record. Dressing the old shell in stars and glass does not.

The 2026 calendar has not punished that choice yet. Mercedes-Benz said U.S. sales rose 12 percent in the first nine months of 2026 and 6 percent in the third quarter, and that the first new GLE, GLE Coupe and GLS copies reached U.S. dealers in September. The bet is that American luxury-SUV buyers will take the new face on a known truck, including a 7,700-pound tow rating on both models, rather than wait for a clean-sheet rival.

Star Headlights and a Wall of Glass

Most mid-cycle jobs hide in the bumper. This one does not. Headlights and taillights are built from illuminated Mercedes logos, and the three-pointed star also forms the grille texture on most trims, more than 140 tiny stars on the nose plus a giant lit badge. AMG models keep vertical chrome bars. The GLS can take a more formal grille with an illuminated hood ornament, the look Mercedes still sells as the S-Class of SUVs.

Digital-matrix high beams can steer light around other road users, a trick U.S. rules have only recently allowed. The body sides, glasshouse and proportions are the 2020 GLE and GLS, including the low-roof GLE Coupe. The new face does a thorough job of looking expensive at a stoplight. It also advertises how little of the metal changed.

The same instinct runs across the dash. The standard Superscreen puts three 12.3-inch displays under one pane of glass: cluster, center infotainment, and a passenger screen a few inches from the one in the middle. Mercedes-Benz says more than 40 apps are available, and the passenger can stream video once they log in. MB.OS, the in-house operating system, sits underneath, with over-the-air updates and a voice assistant that Mercedes says can run multi-part requests.

Physical climate buttons and a center touchpad remain, which is luck, because the glass plank leaves little else for the eye to rest on. In light upholstery the black housing reads like a hole in the dashboard. Using the new stack is not a different job from the old MBUX system, which already had sharp graphics and voice control good enough to make the touchscreen optional. Mercedes also heard complaints about capacitive steering-wheel pads and put a roller back on volume and a rocker on cruise control. The passenger screen still will not let the person in that seat open the massage and extended seat menus, which is the one thing they are likely to want.

The star headlights split opinion as soon as the official photos landed on March 31, and the complaint that stuck was simple: this is the same SUV with new lamps. Repeated logos sell handbags. On a seven-year-old body they read as costume.

The V8 Got a Flat-Plane Crank

Under the hood Mercedes did more real work than the body suggests. The 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, now called M177 Evo, drops a conventional cross-plane crank for a flat-plane unit. Mercedes says that is mostly about combustion control for future emissions rules, not a soundtrack. Output in the GLE 580 4MATIC and GLS 580 4MATIC is 530 horsepower and 553 pound-feet, up 20 hp and 15 lb-ft from 510 hp and 538 lb-ft. Special cams and exhaust hardware were chosen so the old burble survives the new crank.

The turbo 3.0-liter inline-six in 450 models gets a new cylinder head and intake cams. Peak torque rises 44 lb-ft to 413 lb-ft. Horsepower stays 375. The GLE plug-in hybrid leaves a four-cylinder for that six, becoming the GLE 500e 4MATIC at 429 hp and 502 lb-ft, with usable battery capacity up 2.0 kilowatt-hours to 25.3 kWh. Electric range was not published when journalists first drove it. The four-cylinder GLE 350 4MATIC returns. AMG adds a six-cylinder GLE 53 Hybrid beside the V8 GLE 63 S and GLS 63; Mercedes-AMG lists 612 hp for the revised 63 engine.

THE 2027 POWERTRAIN LADDER

On the road the six is still the smoother daily engine, and the V8 still has more shove than a non-AMG GLE needs, especially in the lighter of the two SUVs. Chassis work stays on the luxury side. Air springs and E-Active Body Control can remain on the options list, and they still exist to hide motion from passengers, not to make the driver hunt a back road. Steering and damping move at their own pace. That is the correct brief for these vehicles. It is also the brief they already had.

Why the Hands-Free System Is Still Off

MB.DRIVE ASSIST PRO, Mercedes-Benz’s door-to-door SAE Level 2 assistant, is not on at launch. The hardware is. Mercedes fitted 10 cameras, 5 radars and 12 ultrasonic sensors that feed a water-cooled processor Mercedes says has headroom for later functions, plus a supercomputer rated at up to 254 TOPs. Adaptive cruise, lane-keep assist, and a parking system that finds spaces and backs in are available now. Mercedes says the parking routine can run at up to 5 km/h, about 60 percent faster than the old one, and will leave a space even if the car was parked by hand.

WHAT IS ON THE CAR AT LAUNCH

• Sensor kit: Some 30 sensors, including 10 cameras, 5 radars and 12 ultrasonics, feed a water-cooled processor running MB.OS.
• Compute: Mercedes rates the supercomputer at up to 254 TOPs of raw-data processing.
• Now: Adaptive cruise, lane-keep assist, and a parking assistant that works quickly enough to use in a real lot.
• Later: MB.DRIVE ASSIST PRO, a parking-lot-to-destination system already on sale in China since the end of 2025.

Mercedes-Benz described the missing piece in a January 5, 2026 briefing and still had not switched it on for these SUVs when journalists drove them.

At the press of a button, the vehicle can navigate through a new city, providing advanced SAE-Level 2 assistance from the parking lot to the destination.

Mercedes-Benz, MB.DRIVE ASSIST PRO briefing, January 2026

On October 5, 2026, the company’s own account said the U.S. launch was still planned for later in the year. Legal sign-off, not cameras, is the remaining part.

Hi Chris, thank you for reaching out. It is planned to be launched in the US market later this year, so please stay tuned for further updates and information.

— Mercedes-Benz (@MercedesBenz) October 5, 2026

That is the second-order product hiding in this facelift. The 2027 GLE and GLS can take a software feature that would change a school run or a city hotel drop. Until Mercedes-Benz turns it on, buyers are paying for star lamps, extra glass, and a computer that is waiting.

October Brings a New X5 and a New Q9

The timing is no longer theoretical. BMW’s fifth-generation X5, including an electric iX5, was unveiled in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Early U.S. lists put the X5 40 xDrive at $73,550, with sales due in October 2026. Audi’s first true full-size three-row, the Q9, is listed from $87,700 and due in the fourth quarter of 2026, aimed at the GLS, BMW X7, and Cadillac Escalade. A redesigned Q7 is in the same wave. Audi also quotes a 7,700-pound tow rating on the Q9, matching the Mercedes figure.

THE LATE-2026 SHOWROOM FIGHT

The GLE still undercuts the new X5 at the base of the sheet. The GLS does not undercut the Q9. Mercedes is asking full-size shoppers to pay more for a known three-row that is easier to park than an Escalade or a Navigator, with unibody space that beats those body-on-frame trucks in the third row, while Audi offers a new flagship for less money. Headroom and legroom in the GLE’s first two rows remain competitive, and a third row is optional; anyone who will use that row often is still better in a GLS.

The GLE Coupe stays in the catalog even though it cuts rear headroom and cargo space for a roof line that splits the difference between a car and an SUV. Both models still push the front seats close to the dash, so a clean driving position is harder to find than the spec sheet implies.

What the 2027 GLE and GLS Cost

The four-cylinder GLE 350 4MATIC starts at $69,850. Nine GLE versions span two body styles and six powertrains, though not every engine is offered on the Coupe, and the AMG GLE 63 S starts at $138,550. The GLS line is shorter: GLS 450 4MATIC at $95,500, GLS 580 4MATIC at $122,500, and AMG GLS 63 at $156,800. A Maybach GLS is due later.

U.S. STARTING PRICES

• GLE 350 4MATIC: $69,850 for the four-cylinder entry truck.
• GLS 450 4MATIC: $95,500 for the six-cylinder three-row.
• GLS 580 4MATIC: $122,500 for the 530-hp V8.
• AMG GLE 63 S: $138,550, with the AMG GLS 63 at $156,800.

Horsepower, fuel use, and the sticker did not move enough to change who these SUVs are for. They remain easy to recommend to people who already shop Mercedes, want a locally built three-row, and like the idea of a computer that can grow. They are a harder sell to someone cross-shopping a brand-new X5 this month or a Q9 before the year is out, because the drive is still the old luxury brief with new jewelry.

U.S. dealers already have the first 2027 GLE and GLS copies. The stars are lit, the plant has its $4 billion, and MB.DRIVE ASSIST PRO is still listed for later in 2026.