The 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS is creeping towards its global premiere at next week’s New York Auto and Carscoops reader Geoff Olson recently snapped pictures of a prototype wearing virtually no camouflage in Birmingham, Alabama. These pictures show the new front fascia of the 2020 GLS. Those expecting to see a radically-different front fascia may be a little bit disappointed.

The first thing you’ll notice about the front of the new GLS is that its front grille has gone largely unchanged. Sure, its shape has been tweaked but there is still virtually the same silver, dual horizontal slats running across it. Elsewhere, we can see that the front bumper of the new GLS is similar to the car manufacturer’s current range of cars and is certainly more refined and less aggressive than its predecessor.


While the front of the new GLS shares some traits with the current model, the rear looks totally different and consists of new taillights and may even support an LED light bar stretching between the taillights. Mercedes-Benz designers have also worked to make the rear bumper more sophisticated and elegant.

Underpinning the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLS will be the Modular High Architecture (MHA) also used by the latest GLE. A number of six-and eight-cylinder engines will be offered for the new GLE as well as a number of hybrid or plug-in hybrids. Topping out the range will be the GLS 63 but unlike the current model, it probably won’t use a 5.5-liter twin-turbocharged V8 and instead feature a 4.0-liter twin-turbo unit with 603 hp.