Volkswagen ID. Buzz vs Mercedes-Benz GLE300

What's the difference?

You might call it six degrees of Kombi separation. Somewhere, somehow just about all of us have a VW bus lurking in our family and friends' back story. And this is the latest version of that familiar box on wheels to hit the Aussie market.

It’s the premium, sportier, AWD GTX version of the pure-electric Volkswagen ID.Buzz.

This one-box wonder hits the retro-futurist ball out of the park and we attended its local launch to explore whether what’s under the skin supports the promise of its stunning exterior.

Not so long ago, even the idea of 'coupe SUV' would have been considered just a little bit silly.

But not anymore. This almost contradictory bodystyle is well and truly here to stay, as evidenced by the expanding catalog of available models pouring out of premium automakers.

Benz tells us, for example, that coupe versions make up some 25 per cent of its GLE sales in Australia.

Which brings us to this car – the second-generation GLE coupe. We were sent to its international launch to find out what’s new, what’s changed, and what Benz has in store for the Australian market, come its arrival in Q3 of 2020. Read on to find out what we discovered.