The 400,000th unit of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class has just rolled-off from the production line of the Magna Steyr manufacturing plant in Graz, Austria. The milestone Gelandewagen, or G-wagen for short, is a red G 400 d, delivered to a long-time customer who now owns around 20 G-Wagens!
The G-Class came to life in 1972 from a collaboration between Daimler-Benz and Steyr-Daimler-Puch in the Austrian city of Graz. Now in its second generation more than 40 years since its market launch, the G-Wagen has become the brand’s longest-produced model in its history.
Moving forward, Mercedes-Benz says that the G sub-brand – which includes all of the brand’s SUV models – will play a key role in the company’s “strategic realignment”, focusing on luxury experience that’s electric, software-driven and sustainable.
To that end, Mercedes-Benz head of the Off-Road Vehicles division and CEO of Mercedes-Benz G Dr Emmerich Schiller said, “we’re electrifying this series so the G will have a zero-emissions future, making our icon future-proof.” Yes, you read that right – the next G-Wagen will be fully electric!
Aside from electrifying the iconic boxy off-roader, Mercedes-Benz has also committed to helping all of its suppliers and partners to become carbon-neutral, including the Magna Steyr manufacturing plant where the G-Wagen is built.
The second-generation Mercedes-Benz G-Class was unveiled back in 2018. Closer to home, the G 350 d was recently launched here in Malaysia, with a price tag of RM999,888 (on the road without insurance), making it the only Mercedes-Benz Malaysia offering aside from the top-of-the-range Mercedes-AMG G 63.
The Mercedes-Benz G 350 d is powered by the OM656 3.0 litre inline-six cylinder turbo-diesel mill, which makes 286 hp and 600 Nm. Power is sent to all four wheels via a 9G-Tronic automatic transmission and a 40:60 torque split transfer case, for a 0-100 km/h time of 7.4 seconds, onward to a top speed of 199 km/h.
