[Beijing, September 1st, 2026] Recently, the all-new locally-produced long wheelbase Mercedes-Benz GLE SUV officially rolled offline at BBAC Shunyi Plant, a manufacturing base hailed as an intelligent plant at the foot of the Great Wall. Upholding benchmark manufacturing standards, the new model features wide-ranging comprehensive upgrades in areas such as intelligent technology, design aesthetics, powertrain system and driving experience, reshaping the premium travel experience with hallmark  product strength.

“The all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV carries forward Mercedes-Benz’s 140-year legacy of automotive craftsmanship, born out of BBAC’s manufacturing expertise accumulated from over 6 million vehicles produced over the course of 21 years, now becoming a key part of Mercedes-Benz’s ‘strongest product launch in history’,” said Jens Bühler, President & CEO of BBAC. “This model upholds the exceptional ‘Mercedes-Benz Standard®’, and with its powerful powertrain system and cutting-edge intelligent technology continues to meet the diverse expectations of Chinese customers for premium travel.”

“This year marks a major year of products for BBAC, as well as the ‘First Year of AI’ for our comprehensive and in-depth deployment of artificial intelligence,” said Wei Zhilan, Vice Secretary of Communist Party Committee and Senior Executive Vice President of BBAC. “Powered by AI technology and backed by the Shunyi Plant’s full-chain quality control system, the all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV transforms manufacturing certainty into long-term value perceptible to customers, setting an all-new value benchmark for the premium SUV market in the intelligent era.”

Flagship Product Strength Comprehensively Reshapes the Premium Driving Space

The all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV interprets Mercedes-Benz’s distinct design philosophy with a modern design language. The “Double-Star” headlights form a unique visual signature at the front of the vehicle, while the illuminated central Star complements the illuminated grille frame, exuding an aura of prestige in every detail. The China-exclusive extension design increases the vehicle’s wheelbase to over 3.1 meters. Combined with a spacious five-seat layout, it provides generous space for rear-seat passengers. The standard sliding panoramic sunroof along with the newly-added seat vibration massage function, makes every journey comfortable and enjoyable.

To provide drivers with enhanced intelligence and driving control, Mercedes-Benz debuts the AR head-up display system, which integrates key navigation information into the real-world environment for an immersive navigation experience. The new urban and highway pilot assist system will achieve “garage-to-garage” intelligent assisted driving and assisted parking in the Chinese market. In terms of powertrain, the new model is equipped with in-line six-cylinder engine, which has a displacement of 3.0 liters and comes standard with an electric auxiliary supercharger, delivering a 12% increase in peak torque to 560 N·m. Bolstered by a 17kW ISG intelligent motor and a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, it delivers abundant power on demand, while significantly reducing fuel consumption and ensuring a quieter drive.

Digitalization and AI Technology Work in Parallel to Safeguard Vehicle Safety

As the birthplace of the all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV, BBAC Shunyi Plant covers an area of approximately 1.06 million square meters, and houses four independent and complete major process shops and a quality inspection center, embedding manufacturing certainty throughout the entire vehicle production process.

The Stamping Shop at Shunyi Plant is equipped with Zeiss optical inspection instruments with a measurement accuracy down to the micrometer level. Thousands of inspection points are set for a single part, ensuring geometric precision from the source.

In the Body Shop, the quality of thousands of solder joints on every GLE SUV’s white body is not determined by spot checks. Instead, they must pass 100% non-destructive testing to receive quality clearance. Beyond the performance of solder joints, key parameters in the welding process, such as current and pressure, are also monitored and recorded in the entire process, forming a complete digital archive.
In the chassis assembly process, critical bolts are individually identified by a high-definition camera system. Combined with world-class tightening tools, data is archived in the cloud with full traceability up to 30 years, providing quantifiable support for crash safety and durability.

On the basis of data traceability, BBAC is also comprehensively promoting AI visual quality inspection robots, driving the transformation of quality control from human-eye spot checks to data-based full inspection. Currently, AI vision technology has covered areas such as solder joint quality, clearance and surface deviation, as well as gluing path and assembly completeness identification, with its application boundaries continuing to be expanded. For example, the door line of the all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV is equipped with an unmanned photographic inspection system, safeguarding the precise assembly and smooth appearance of doors with highest accuracy.

Full-condition Dynamic Verification Strengths High-pressure Sealing Safety

To ensure that the all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV can confidently handle both urban commuting and off-road scenarios, BBAC has deeply integrated sealing performance verification into its manufacturing process. The Shunyi Plant has specially built a water crossing test room for this model, capable of realistically simulating extreme outdoor water crossing scenarios to rigorously ensure the vehicle’s sealing performance and reliability.

The quality test track, which integrates multiple standard test road surfaces, comprehensively covers both daily and extreme conditions. It can thoroughly verify the vehicle’s power delivery stability, suspension performance, body attitude control capability and dynamic quietness performance, ensuring that every completed vehicle passes a comprehensive dynamic quality assessment before being delivered to the customer.

The official rollout of the all-new locally-produced long wheelbase Mercedes-Benz GLE SUV once again reaffirms BBAC’s long-term commitment to manufacturing quality. With BBAC’s manufacturing certainty as its foundation, the all-new long wheelbase GLE SUV delivers a truly trustworthy choice to demanding Chinese consumers through its robust materials, refined craftsmanship and full-process digital quality control.