IT’S been a long time coming, but Mercedes-Benz’s smallest ever sports utility vehicle is finally on sale in Australia.

Strangely, it wears a GL rather than an ML badge, suggesting the 4417mm-long GLA-Class, as the baby SUV is known, belongs in the same family as the hulking GL-Class that stretches 5120mm.

However, while the GL-Class is the biggest SUV that Mercedes-Benz offers, the GLA-Class fills a yawning gap between the A- and B-Class compact city hatchbacks, and complements the recently launched, similarly compact CLA-Class sedan.

The result is a sharp-looking city-focussed crossover that loses none of the appeal of a regular hatch.

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