Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class vs MG U9

What's the difference?

There’s little wonder the GLE63 S is back for a second go around, after  clearly putting the frighteners on the Audi RS Q8 and BMW’s X5 M Competition and X6 M Competition.

After all, it’s a large SUV that sacrifices little in the way of practicality (especially the wagon) in its pursuit of high performance.

And for that reason, we’re itching to go for another drive – with or without the family.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel and meals provided.

I can’t give you a definitive verdict on the U9 based on our limited time behind the wheel. However, what I can say with certainty is MG is serious about making its first ute a success. The price alone demonstrates how motivated the brand is to win buyers over. Undercutting the likes of the Ranger and HiLux with a physically larger ute is a strong opening move from MG.

The clever features, spacious cabin and smart technology will also help to win over buyers, as will the choice of a conventional diesel engine. But none of that guarantees success. As the dominance of the Ford and Toyota demonstrates, ute buyers are loyal and drawn to the most popular options, so MG will need to fight hard for every sale to ensure the U9 isn't lost in the increasingly crowded ute market.

First things first, the new GLE63 S is available in two body-styles, with the wagon appealing to the traditionalists out there, while the coupe targets the style-conscious.

Either way, few large SUVs are as imposing as the GLE63 S, which is a good thing considering it wants to be taken seriously.

Up front, it’s immediately identifiable as a Mercedes-AMG model thanks to its distinctive Panamericana grille insert.

The angry look is punctuated by the angular daytime running lights integrated into the Multibeam LED headlights, while the chunky front bumper has large air intakes.

Around the side, the GLE63 S stands out with its aggressive wheelarch extensions and side skirts, with the wagon getting 21-inch alloy wheels as standard, while the coupe gets 22-inch items.

From the A-pillars onwards, the differences between the wagon and coupe body-styles start to become apparent, with the latter’s roofline much more steeply raked.

At the rear, the wagon and coupe differentiate themselves even more clearly with their unique tailgates, LED tail-lights and diffusers. That said, they do have a sports exhaust system with squared-off quad tailpipes in common.

It’s worth mentioning that the difference in body-style also means a difference in dimensions, with the coupe 7mm longer (4961mm) than the wagon, despite having a 60mm-shorter wheelbase (2935mm). It’s also 1mm narrower (2014mm) and 66mm shorter (1716mm).

Inside, the GLE63 S separates itself with its flat-bottom steering wheel with Dinamica microfibre accents, and multi-contour front seats, which are upholstered in Nappa leather alongside the armrests, dashboard and door shoulders and inserts.

The door bins are of the hard plastic variety. That’s underwhelming in a vehicle that costs this much, as you would hope cow hide – or at least a soft-touch material – would be applied to them.

The black headliner acts as another reminder of its performance focus, and while it makes for a darker cabin, metallic accents feature throughout, while the trim (our test vehicle had open-pore wood) adds some variety alongside the ambient lighting.

That said, the GLE63 S is still filled to the brim with cutting-edge technology, including two 12.3-inch displays, with one the central touchscreen and the other a digital instrument cluster.

Both use Mercedes’ MBUX multimedia system and feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. This set-up is still the benchmark, thanks to its speed and breadth of functionality and input methods, including always-on voice control and a touchpad.

While the fancy tailgate step and the Smart Hatch are the most obvious changes between the LDV and MG utes on the surface, arguably the biggest change is what’s underneath. MG has opted to buck the conventional leaf spring, live rear axle set-up and has instead opted for a more SUV-like independent, multi-link rear suspension.

This explains why such a big ute has a sub-one-tonne payload, but it speaks to MG’s aspirations to try and lure ‘urban’ ute buyers. There is no doubt a large group of ute owners who don’t go off-road regularly and instead use their vehicle as a family transporter.

To that end, opting for a more SUV-like suspension set-up should be beneficial to its on-road manners and unladen ride. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, we couldn’t test that because our drive was limited to unsealed roads. But it was enough for us to get an initial impression of how the U9 drives and the early signs are positive.

The engine sounds like a traditional ute, with the gruff diesel ‘chug’ and smooth pulling power. The towing test provided was well below the 3500kg maximum rating, only 1500kg, so naturally the U9 has little trouble pulling the horse float along.

As for the ride on the suspension, it's fairly well composed on a gravel road and offers no obvious signs of struggle on more challenging muddy trails and creek crossings. So there are promising signs that the U9 should be able to hold its own against the more established ute contenders.

Being a large SUV, you’d expect the GLE63 S to be quite practical, and it is, but what you wouldn’t expect is the coupe to have 25L more cargo capacity than the wagon, at a generous 655L, due to its higher window line.

That said, when you stow the 40/20/40 split-fold rear bench via the second row’s release latches, the wagon has a significant 220L advantage over the coupe, at a cavernous 2010L, thanks to its boxier design.

Either way, there’s a small load lip to contend with, making loading bulkier items a little more difficult, although that task can be made easier with the flick of a switch, as the air springs are able to lower the load height by a handy 50mm.

Better yet, four tie-down points are on hand to help secure loose items,  alongside a couple of bag hooks, while a space-saver spare resides under the flat floor.

In the second row, things are even better, with the wagon offering a crazy amount of legroom behind our 184cm driving position, as well as two inches of headroom for me.

With its 60mm-shorter wheelbase, the coupe naturally sacrifices some legroom, but it still provides three inches of legroom, while its sloping roofline trims headroom to an inch.

No matter the body-style, the five-seat GLE63 S is wide enough to seat three adults abreast with few complaints, with the transmission tunnel on the smaller side, meaning there’s plenty of room for feet.

There’s also plenty of room for child seats, with two ISOFIX and three top-tether anchorage points on hand for fitting them.

Amenities-wise, rear occupants are treated to map pockets on the front-seat backrests, as well as a fold-down armrest with two cupholders, while the door bins can accommodate a couple of regular bottles each.

A  fold-out cubby is positioned below the air vents at the rear of the centre console, containing two slots for smartphones as well as a pair of USB-C ports.

In the first row, occupants have access to the centre console’s cubby, which features two temperature-controlled cupholders, in front of which are a wireless smartphone charger, two USB-C ports and a 12V power outlet.

The central storage bin is pleasingly large and contains another USB-C port, while the glovebox is also on the larger side, and you get an overhead sunglasses holder too. Stunningly, the front door bins can take three regular bottles apiece. Not bad.

While the wagon has a large, square rear window, the coupe’s is a letterbox in comparison, so rearward visibility isn’t one of its strong suits.

That SUV-like interior and the larger dimensions make for a very pleasant cabin with loads of space. We didn’t get too much time to experience the multimedia system, but the 12.3-inch touchscreen looks good and operates smoothly, while the inclusion of large physical buttons for the air-conditioning and audio system is a positive for those who value ease-of-use.

There’s a generous amount of room up front, but it’s the back that really impresses. Unlike the sometimes cramped back seats in a conventionally-sized dual-cab ute, the U9 has plenty of legroom and headroom for four or even five adults to fit in comfort.

There’s also plenty of small item storage, including a wireless charging pad (but only on the high-grades) and USB outlets just ahead of the gear selector.

As for the tray out the back, that is so important to ute buyers, it measures 1600mm by 1600mm at the top, but narrows to 1230mm between the wheel arches. Despite its big size, the payload is only rated at 870kg for the Explore, 835kg for the Explore X and just 770kg for the Explore Pro.

However, MG has introduced a party trick no-one else, not even LDV offers, in the tray. At the press of a button, the rear tailgate opens and then with another press a section of the tailgate drops down, revealing a step. While not the quickest way to climb into a tray, it might be the nicest and is definitely the easiest this reviewer has experienced locally.

The even more elaborate party trick the U9 offers is what MG calls a ‘Smart Hatch’. This allows for the rear glass to retract and the bottom of the cabin to recline into the interior, creating a direct connection between the tray and the cabin for especially long items. While MG is, rightfully, very proud and keen to promote the Smart Hatch, it must be noted it is only available as an option on the Explore Pro and costs $5500 (which is nearly 10 per cent of the total cost of the car) so you’ll want to really need the extra space.

By not having to worry about developing its own ute from scratch, MG was able to focus on its key selling strength - price. MG has a reputation for its aggressive pricing strategy in Australia, trying to win over buyers with the most affordable or best value products in any given market sector.

To that end, the MG U9 range begins at just $52,990, drive-away, for the U9 Explore, undercutting not only the Terron 9 Origin (from $53,674, drive-away), the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux dual-cab pick-up ranges. It's inline with the similarly-sized GWM Cannon Alpha (from $51,990 drive-away). 

For $52,990 the U9 Explore comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, side steps, painted tub liner, synthetic leather seats, keyless entry and ignition and a six-speaker stereo with digital radio and wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

Next up in the range is the U9 Explore X, which starts at $55,990, drive-away. For the extra money you get 19-inch alloys, a cargo slide rail with a hook in the tray, heated front seats, acoustic glass, vehicle app connectivity, voice command, a wireless smartphone charging pad, satellite navigation, Amazon music and the ability to receive over-the-air updates.

The flagship Explore Pro is priced from $60,990, drive-away, and has 20-inch alloy wheels, an eight-speaker JBL sound system, a panoramic sunroof, suede headlining, heated outboard rear seats and the clever tailgate step we’ll detail later.

The GLE63 S is powered by Mercedes-AMG’s ubiquitous 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 petrol engine, with this version pumping out a hard-hitting 450kW of power at 5750rpm and 850Nm of torque from 2250-5000rpm.

But that’s not all, because the GLE63 S also has a 48V mild-hybrid system called EQ Boost.

As its name suggests, it has an integrated starter-generator (ISG) that can provide up to 16kW and 250Nm of electric boost in short bursts, which means it can also reduce the sensation of turbo lag.

Mated to a nine-speed torque-converter automatic transmission with paddle-shifters, and Mercedes-AMG’s fully variable 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive system, the GLE63 S sprints from a standstill to 100km/h in just 3.8 seconds, in either body-style.

MG has plenty of hybrid knowledge, but has opted to keep it simple for the U9. It’s powered by a 2.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine, which should be popular with the ute crowd.

It produces a solid, if unspectacular, 160kW and 520Nm, enough for it to offer a 3500kg maximum braked towing capacity, which is also something that should be popular with potential buyers.

The engine is paired with an eight-speed (torque-converter) automatic transmission and 'Super Select' 4WD system capable of sending drive to all four wheels.

Like so many new brands in the ute market, MG was keen to highlight that the transmission is built by ZF and the 4WD system is from BorgWarner, both brands with a long history in their respective areas.

The GLE63 S’s fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) varies, with the wagon achieving 12.4L/100km, while the coupe needs 0.2L more. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are 282g/km and 286g/km respectively.

When you consider the high level of performance on offer, all of these claims are fairly reasonable. And they’re made possible by the engine’s cylinder-deactivation technology and the 48V EQ Boost mild-hybrid system, which has coasting and extended idle-stop functionality.

That said, in our real-world testing with the wagon, we averaged 12.7L/100km over 149km. While that’s a surprisingly good result, its launch drive route mainly consisted of high-speed roads, so expect a much higher number in metropolitan areas.

And in the coupe, we averaged a higher but still respectable 14.4L/100km over 68km, although its launch  route purely involved high-speed country roads, and you know what that means.

For reference, the wagon has an 80L fuel tank, while the coupe has an 85L unit. Either way, the GLE63 S only takes more expensive 98RON premium petrol.

As all three variants are powered by the same engine and all return the same fuel economy. Rated at 7.9L/100km on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle.

As our test drive was limited to off-road only we can’t assess its real-world usage, so that will need to wait until we can spend extended time behind the wheel.

Notably, with an 80-litre fuel tank the U9 has a theoretical driving range of more than 1000km, which is great for anyone looking to take their ute on a long road trip.

In terms of safety, the U9 has all the usual features you should expect of any new car in 2025. This includes airbag protection for all occupants, plus active safety features including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and a host of others.

That’s enough for it to achieve a maximum five-star Euro NCAP score and MG expects the same from ANCAP. However, it must be noted Euro NCAP crash tested the LDV e-Terron 9, the electric version of the ute, which obviously has no diesel engine in the front of the vehicle and instead a smaller electric motor and a storage space.

It also worth noting even on our limited, off-road only drive, the driver attention system seemed very sensitive, which suggests better calibration is needed. So we’ll reserve final judgement on the other systems until we can fully experience them, too.

As with all Mercedes-AMG models, the GLE63 S comes with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, which currently sets the standard for the premium market. It also comes with five years of roadside assistance.

Better yet, the GLE63 S’s service intervals are relatively long, at every year or 20,000km – whichever comes first.

It’s also available with a five-year/100,000km capped-price-servicing plan, but it costs $4450 in total, or an average of $890 per visit. Yep, the GLE63 S isn’t exactly cheap to maintain, but you expected that.

This is a crucial area for many ute buyers, so MG has tried to make itself as appealing as possible to discerning pick-up prospects.

However, the U9 is covered by MG’s seven year warranty, not the newer 10 year coverage from its passenger vehicles. And even then, that requires you to service the vehicle via an authorised MG dealer for the full seven years to apply.

However, this only applies to non-commercial use vehicles, so while tradies will be covered, fleet buyers are stuck with a five-year warranty.

Over the first five years, if you spend the $2395 capped price costs, you’ll get the extra two years of coverage. The first service is due after 10,000km, but the rest are at 12-months/15,000km.

MG has also worked on expanding its dealer and servicing network to respond to some growing pains and ensure owners aren’t burnt and are more likely to return for their next MG. There are currently 120 MG dealers across Australia with plans to gradually expand that footprint into regional areas following the launch of the U9.