Mercedes Renames Its Vehicles and Confirms 11 New Models - Unhaggle

Posted by | November 11, 2014 | News, Trends | No Comments

Mercedes Renames Its Vehicles and Confirms 11 New Models

Mercedes-Benz has announced that it will readjust its naming strategy to prepare for an influx of new vehicles that will be rolling off production lines in the near future. The changes will leave many models untouched, but those that are will be gradually phased in as brand-new additions or completely revamped vehicles.

The changes will not be as dramatic as those recently made by Cadillac and Infiniti, but they will still be the more notable than anything the brand has done in over two decades. The new names are designed to help alleviate confusion as the automaker sets out to introduce 11 all-new models in the next seven years.

A quick breakdown of the strategy is as follows:

  • All models will be centred around five tradition Mercedes letter names, each representing size and position: A, B, C, E and S.
  • All SUVs will have the GL prefix and will now look like: GLA, GLC (previously GLK), GLE (previously M/ML), and GLS (previously GL).
  • Four-door coupes will keep the CL prefix, so the CLA and CLS will remain unchanged.
  • Roadsters will all have an SL prefix, turning the SLK into a SLC.

There are a few exceptions to the new rules, however. The G-Class SUV and SL-Class roadster will keep their namesakes due to their iconic status.

The powertrain naming structure is also due for a restructure that will simplify it. New lower-case letters will be used to describe powertrains: c for natural gas (or compressed gas), d for diesel, e for electric, f for fuel cell and h for hybrid. Numerical suffixes will still be used to refer, generally, to size and power. The 4Matic tag, which refers to the all-wheel-drive system, will also stay.

An example of what this will look like is the current diesel-powered ML350 BlueTEC, which will become a GLE350d, while the E400 Hybrid will be an E400h.

Mercedes says that customers can expect to see the new strategy go into practice as early as next year with the introduction of the updated versions of the M-Class and GL-Class as well as the redesigned GLK-Class. Under the new naming they will be released, respectively, as GLE, GLS and GLC.

The redesign of these pre-existing models doesn’t even begin to touch the all-new models that Mercedes is promising. With no precursors in the current lineup, this means that the German automaker is about to enter some new segments.

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About Katie Krol

Katie Krol is the Marketing and Operations Coordinator at Unhaggle. She spends her days writing news pieces, car reviews and original content. In the near future, she's looking to purchase a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited for weekend trips to her parents' farm, and she would love to be cruising around the city in her dream car, a matte black Audi R8.

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