Mercedes-Benz is ramping up the development of its entry-level G-Class, a smaller electric car that will be pitched against a new breed of rugged crossovers such as the upcoming Land Rover Defender ‘Sport’.
Pencilled to launch in 2027, the highly anticipated model, currently referred to as ‘Little G’, will be a sibling to the larger, legendary off-roader and sold exclusively as an EV. It is intended to give Mercedes a foothold in the popular rugged crossover market.
The smaller G-Class was initially confirmed by Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius at the 2023 Munich motor show. It has been conceived to sit below the existing model in an expansion of the company’s G (for Geländewagen, German for off-road vehicle) sub-brand established in 2020 alongside Maybach, EQ and AMG variants.
Unlike those siblings, which sit on a ladder-frame chassis, the new 4×4 will use the German car maker’s new, and more conventional, MB:EA platform. Also underpinning the upcoming electric versions of the GLC and C-Class saloon, MB:EA will give it a unibody construction, an 800V electric architecture and a new fifth-generation battery aimed at providing it with a range of more than 434 miles.
Visually, the new model will take strong design cues from the “iconic DNA” of the existing G-Class, with “its own character, but it will be a G”, Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener previously told Autocar. It is understood the car will also be marked out from its range-mates by having a lower-case ‘g’ in its nameplate.
It will be far from an entry-level model, though: the Little G is expected to be priced from around £70,000. By comparison, the only existing electric G-Class model, the G580 EQ, is priced at £180,860 in the UK and the range’s most affordable model, the diesel-powered 362bhp G450d, is £135,535.
This would, like the current G-Class does now, position it as a luxury option over rivals such as the incoming Defender ‘Sport’ (set to be priced significantly lower than the £57,000 full-size Defender) and production version of the Toyota Compact Cruiser (the new entry point into the Land Cruiser range).
One key draw of the new G-Class, according to insiders, is its traditional utilitarian design. Autocar has been told it will feature a squared-off profile with flat and near-to-vertical surfaces, giving it a distinctive military-grade look. It will also adopt a glasshouse with an almost flat windscreen, side windows and rear screen.
Although an earlier design proposal for the Little G featured headlights with a U-shaped graphic, a more refined version is said to have progressed to a round headlight graphic similar to that of the latest incarnation of the larger G-Class.
