Since its debut in 1979, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, also known as the G-Wagen, has been updated many times. People love it because it’s very durable. Mercedes-Benz did some research and found out that 80% of all the G-Wagens ever built are still being used today.
Mercedes-AMG CEO Michael Schiebe talked about this during a roundtable discussion, saying, “The cars have a very long lifetime. So here you can calculate [that while] maybe a G-Class needs a little bit more material than [your average] compact car, the durability, if you see the lifetime of a G-Wagen from 1979, I think you [will have had to have driven] many, many compact cars, in some cases, to keep up the lifetime of a G-Wagen.”
While Mercedes-Benz didn’t say where they got this information, it’s widely known that the G-Wagen is very tough. Even though older models had some problems with rust, they used the same engines as other long-lasting Mercedes-Benz cars like the W123. Plus, every G-Class, no matter how old, has a strong body and frame and holds its value well. Mercedes-Benz made its 500,000th G-Wagen in April 2023, which means there are still over 400,000 of them around today.
Recently, Mercedes-Benz added an electric version of the G-Class to its lineup, called the G580 with EQ Technology. Even though it probably won’t sell a lot, it could bring in new customers who are interested in electric cars.
“We try to be a customer-centric company. We want to deliver what customers want. And if they demand V8 engines, then it is our job to supply very efficient and very powerful V8 engines,” Schiebe said. “The new electric [G-Class] opens up new opportunities for our dealers. Customers that we may have not attracted in the past, now we have the opportunity to access them,” he explained.
Another interesting thing about the G-Class is the Peugeot P4. This is a less-known version of the G-Class that was made for the French military in the 1970s. Peugeot made some changes to the G-Class and called it the P4. It was produced from 1981 to 1992, but only around 14,000 were made, including a few for civilian use.
