i like this little Encore, but i have yet to see any on the roads...the pricing seems a little high, but perhaps there will be incentives on it (not sure)...at $30k, i think a nicely equipped Forester would beat it up in almost every area...at close to $40k, not only would the Forester still have the upper hand on pretty much every facet of the vehicle, you are only about $2500 away from a base GLK 250...while it is a "base GLK", a base GLK still comes reasonably well equipped...or as mentioned, a loaded up B250 would be comparable and beat the Encore in every aspect (driving dynamics, power, space, etc), although only available in FWD (for now anyway).
in any case, it looks like a good little car, and perhaps a few minor tweaks for next year's model can refine it further.