The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA is a luxury SUV with a stylish exterior and Mercedes’ excellent reputation. It has the kind of sleek appeal that makes it incredibly popular among those looking for a super nice and small luxury SUV. It’s also J.D. Power’s best Small Premium SUV for 2022. What makes the 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA so great and why is it the best Small Premium SUV? Let’s have a look.

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA is the number one Small Premium SUV

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA takes the top spot on J.D. Power’s APEAL study list of the best Small Premium SUVs. This isn’t the only Mercedes to come in first on one of J.D. Power’s APEAL lists. The 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS also takes first place for the large premium car category as well.

The APEAL study shows how happy people are in their Mercedes after 90 days of ownership

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA is stylish and comfortable, and owners of this luxury SUV love it. The J.D. Power Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout looks at how happy owners of new vehicles are after 90 days. “The study data provides insight on experiences with design, performance, safety, usability, comfort, perceived quality, and other factors.”

J.D. Power assesses forty areas in ten key groups when determining the APEAL study rankings. These include: walking up to your vehicle, setting up and starting your vehicle, getting in and out of the vehicle, your vehicle’s interior, your vehicle’s powertrain, your vehicle’s driving feel, your vehicle keeping you safe, using the infotainment system, your vehicle’s driving comfort, and fuel usage.

Owners identify with the GLA

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA is heavy on style, and people love driving it. In fact, they love driving it so much that they identify with it. That’s part of what the APEAL study is designed to do. It tries to quantify how people feel in their vehicles, asking them to think about “37 attributes, ranging from the sense of comfort they feel when climbing into the driver’s seat to the exhilaration they get when they step on the accelerator.”

The Mercedes-Benz GLA comes with a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine that makes 221 hp and is matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission. It drives smoothly and is fairly fuel-efficient for an SUV, getting 25 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. In addition, the interior is laid out nicely and it has the upscale finishes that you’d expect in a luxury SUV.

Altogether, the 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLA is beloved by its owners, making it the best luxury SUV you can buy. This is especially true if you’re looking to have an emotional connection with your vehicle, as many people increasingly are. And when you’re spending big money on a premium SUV, you certainly want to love it as much as you can.