2008 Mercedes-Benz MLK-Class

Mercedes-Benz is planning its response to the BMW {{{X3}}}. Running under the working title MLK-Class, the new smaller-than-M-Class (ML500, et al.) sport/utility will be built on Mercedes's next-generation C-Class beginning in the 2007 calendar year. Like the MLK, the next-generation midsize M-Class will be on a unibody platform (the M-Class switches from the current truck's body-on-frame platform).

The compact MLK will be built only in Europe, where Mercedes expects to find more buyers because of the new SUV's tidy size. Small, elegant SUVs look like the Next Big Thing in the Old World. Because of its C-Class roots, we can expect the MLK to come with the new four-valve 3.0-liter and 3.5-liter V-6s in the U.S. as well as a supercharged four and turbodiesel for the home market. If Mercedes continues its rampant proliferation of AMG marketing, an MLK55 AMG isn't out of the question. As for the name, it makes sense in Europe, with the connection to SLK-Class and CLK-Class. But here, those initials are the same as those of the late civil-rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. Another rumored name, "X-Class," is out because of the BMW X3 and X5.