Report: Mercedes-Benz Expects G-Class Sales Growth With New Model

Mercedes-Benz is expecting sales of the G-Class to increase thanks to the newly redesigned model. Speaking with Automotive News, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO Dietmar Exler said that the model’s high-performance AMG variants should help spur this sales growth. Exler also revealed that the automaker’s product developers may expand the G-Class past its core models and are looking at special edition variants.

Sales of the 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class are expected to start in the fall of this year with the G550 arriving first. There will be a slight increase in price, according to Exler, but he didn’t specify how much. A 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 carries over on the 2019 G550.

AMG variants are expected to follow soon after the G550, and according to Ian James, the marketing manager for the G-Class lineup, the high-performance models aren’t that far away. According to James, AMG models will be part of the 2019 model year. One is expected to debut in Geneva. It’s likely that the G63 instead of the G65 will head to the 2018 Geneva auto show.

Exler said that the arrival of the 2019 G-Class might make 2018 another year of sales increases. He also told Automotive News that a significant rise in sales is likely for 2019 since it will have been in the lineup for a full year. AMG models make up the bulk of G-Class sales in the U.S. For 2017, Mercedes-Benz sold 4,188 examples, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year. This was also the first time the G-Class broke its annual threshold of 4,000 units since it arrived in 2001.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)

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