What's all this about?

In an announcement about its sales success and a new halfway house performance brand that sits between Mercedes-Benz models and full-fat AMG mentalist machines, Mercedes-AMG has given us a brief glimpse of its forthcoming BMW X6 rival, the GLE SUV.

What's a GLE?

Come on, we only told you about Mercedes' renaming policy a few weeks back. All Merc SUVs will now have GL badging to honour the G-wagen (which soldiers on as the only SUV without an L in its name), so the old M-Class/ML badging is to be replaced by GLE.

So what do we know of this GLE?

Nothing, really. It will be shown at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit in January 2015, where we think it will form part of the new AMG Sport model offering.

Oh, good lord! AMG Sport? How does this differ from AMG Line and AMG proper?

To celebrate the fact that it will exceed 40,000 global sales in 2014, Mercedes-AMG is trying to push its sales on and double its 2013 numbers by 2016. This ambitious growth will be fuelled by making Affalterbach's fabled three letters more accessible to all. To that end, AMG Sport will fit in between Mercedes-Benz AMG Line cars (basically a trim level that makes normal Mercs look like AMGs, yet does nothing for performance) and the full-on AMGs by offering models with drivetrain and chassis enhancements over the standard machines.

Right. I am heartily confused.

Think yourself lucky you don't reside in one of the countries where AMG Line is actually referred to as AMG Sports. That simple extra 's' over AMG Sport will actually mean less kit for customers. This is where the fine line between healthy growth and brand dilution can get very easily blurred.

OK, so will the GLE get AMG Sport treatment?

Yes, we believe so and that's what the image seems to show, alongside a C-Class with the same makeover. We'll find out more in January.