New Mercedes G-Wagen for government agencies and military operations gets more performance and equipment
Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen was originally developed to be at the enemy lines serving the military. The four-wheel-drive luxury SUV is manufactured by Magna Steyr in Austria for the German manufacturer and is in production since 1979. The existing generation of the G-Class or G-Wagen has been on sale since 2018 and surprisingly it has only been through four generations.
This was mainly due to the inherent qualities of the G-Wagen as it is built to go off-road and it boasts of a boxy design language with upright proportions. The W463 was first introduced at the NAIAS show in Detroit before reaching global markets and in India, it has an on-road price close to Rs. 2 crore for the G350d and around Rs. 3 crore for the G63 AMG 4MATIC.
The Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen is also used by many countries in its military specification and it was codenamed the W461. Produced since 1992, the company is now bringing in a new military-spec G-Wagen for the European market while keeping the old one in production. Carrying the W464 series, the Special-Ops G-Class is available for government agencies and militaries.
It is powered by a 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine and is said to have greater off-roading capabilities as well. The powertrain produces a maximum power output of 245 horsepower and 600 Nm of peak torque with an increase of 35 per cent in power and a massive 50 per cent jump in torque. The engine is linked with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
In addition, it also gets LED headlamps, LED Daytime Running Lights and a 24 V electrical system for lesser fuel consumption and the maximum payload has also gone up. The civilian G-Wagen W463 gains Professional Line exterior at the IAA in Munich, Germany with an improved features list and go-anywhere characteristics.
At the same show, the EQG concept debuted and is basically the close-to-production variant of the G-Wagen with an electric drivetrain. While no official specifications were revealed, it is expected to go on sale in the near future as Mercedes-Benz is well into the transition phase ahead of going full electric.