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NEWSGOT A STORY Email our news editor will.rimell@haymarket.com ercedes-Benz is ramping up the development of its entry-level G-Class, a smaller 4x4 that will be pitched against the Land Rover Defender 90 when it arrives in 2027. The highly anticipated model, currently referred to as ‘Little G’, will be a sibling to the larger, legendary offroader and sold exclusively as an EV. It is intended to give Mercedes a foothold SMALL G-CLASS TO GUN FOR DEFENDER IN 2027 AS £70K EV Mercedes will shrink the G-Wagen to create a new entry-level electric 4x4 M in the popular rugged crossover market. it with a range of more than 434 miles. The smaller G-Class was initiall y 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 ladderframe chassis, the new 4x4 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 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. IMAGE 4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 2 APRIL 2025
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N E W S It will be far from an entry-level model, though. The Little G is expected to be priced from around £70,000, putting it into direct competition with combustion-engined off-road rivals such as the Land Rover Defender and Toyota Land Cruiser. 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. One key draw of the new model, according to insiders, is its traditional utilitarian design. Autocar has been told it will feature a squared-of f 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. Further signature design details include rectangular indicators mounted on top of the front wings, angular wheelhouses with flared wheel arches and a spare wheel mounted on the rear tailgate. Despite the model’s upright design and generous ground clearance, Mercedes is said to have achieved a drag coefficient “well below” the 0.44 of the G580 EQ. Inside, it will feature seating for fi ve and of fer a different design from the rest of the G-Class range. This will include a shallow dashboard design and a connecting centre console that is similar in look to that of the new third-generation CLA saloon. Power for the standard entry-level Little G is set to come from Mercedes’ new eATS 2 .0 electric motors. Different from the Siemens Valeo motors used in existing electric-powered Mercedes models, this set-up adopts a twospeed gearbox, among other changes, for added efficiency and refinement. In the technically similar electric GLC, the rear motor is claimed to develop up ▶ “The Little G will feature a unibody construction and new battery for a range of more than 434 miles” 2 APRIL 2025 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 5

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NEWSGOT A STORY Email our news editor will.rimell@haymarket.com ercedes-Benz is ramping up the development of its entry-level G-Class, a smaller 4x4 that will be pitched against the Land Rover Defender 90 when it arrives in 2027.

The highly anticipated model, currently referred to as ‘Little G’, will be a sibling to the larger, legendary offroader and sold exclusively as an EV. It is intended to give Mercedes a foothold

SMALL G-CLASS TO GUN FOR DEFENDER IN 2027 AS £70K EV Mercedes will shrink the G-Wagen to create a new entry-level electric 4x4 M

in the popular rugged crossover market.

it with a range of more than 434 miles.

The smaller G-Class was initiall y 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 ladderframe chassis, the new 4x4 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

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.

IMAGE

4 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 2 APRIL 2025

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