Mercedes-Benz has teased a photo of the so-called ‘Mini G’ next to its big sibling, the G-Class.
At the Munich motor show this week, company chairman Ola Källenius revealed more information on the smaller off-road SUV, with the Mini G to be based on a “miniature” ladder-frame chassis so it’s “as authentic as possible,” UK publication Autocar reports.
According to Mr Källenius, the Mini G will use “nearly all unique” components, while its design is said to be more modern than the current, full-size G-Wagen.
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“The G is a very special, authentic car, and the Mini G has to be authentic,” he told the audience.
“So I cannot take just a platform, I cannot take an existing platform, I have to create my own. It’s a completely new development,” he added, confirming the model will utilise its own unique architecture, rather than sharing a platform with another model in the Mercedes-Benz stable.
“Over time, just looking at the car’s capabilities and what’s needed, I came more and more to the conclusion that everything has to be unique – the whole upper body and everything,” Mr Källenius revealed.
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“You know, I can’t even take a door handle from [the current] portfolio, because the G-Class has such unique door handles.
“So we spent a lot of time tuning this car, and over time we started to develop so many unique components to make sure it’s [a] very, very good-looking car and very capable.”
But while the current G-Class is offered with diesel, petrol, and electric powertrains, overseas reports claim the new Mini G will be exclusively battery-powered – despite slow sales of the larger G-Class EV.
Interestingly, the Mercedes-Benz boss referred to the new model as the ‘Mini G’ at this year’s event, whereas he called the vehicle the ‘Little G’ last year.
Though the production name has yet to be announced, it’s unlikely to be called the Mini G officially – as BMW-owned Mini would almost certainly have a problem with that – or the Baby G, given that name is used by Casio for a range of smaller G-Shock watches.
The Mini G teaser comes just days after the German automaker published a shadowy image of a forthcoming G-Class Cabriolet.
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It’s been more than a decade since Mercedes-Benz produced a G-Wagen cabriolet – excluding the Maybach-badged Landaulet of 2017, of which just 99 were built – but it appears an all-new soft-top version is just around the corner.
Originally introduced in 1979 with the two-door, short-wheelbase version, late-model G500 Cabriolets – built up until 2013 – have demanded high prices by collectors around the world, with the most-valuable recorded example changing hands for US$544,000 (AU$822,800) in August 2022.
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