Mercedes claims 80% of all G-wagons ever built are still on the roads

Of the 500,000 built, 400,000 of them are still on the roads.

Speaking at a roundtable interview, Michael Schiebe, Head of AMG, G-Class & Maybach business units at Mercedes-Benz, claimed that the majority of the G-Class SUVs built since its introduction in 1979 are still roadworthy.

Schiebe stated, "80 per cent of the G-Classes that were ever produced are still in the market." Further adding, "The cars have a very long lifetime."

Mercedes-Benz reported in 2023 that they built 5,00,000 units of the G-wagon, which means there are still 4,00,000 of them on the roads today.

Schiebe added, "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] driven many, many compact cars, in some cases, to keep up the lifetime of a G-Wagen."

With the recent arrival of the all-electric G-Class, the G580 with EQ technology, Mercedes now offers the G-wagon in three powertrain options - the popular bi-turbo V8 for the AMG version, a six-cylinder unit on the entry-level G550 and the all-electric G580.

Schiebe stated, "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."

He further added, "We have customers that really love the V8. And they will love the V8 in the G-Class forever. They can go and continue with the G63. Then we open up [availability] for customers who want to have a very efficient high-performance combustion engine powertrain, the six-cylinder G550. It’s more efficient, it’s more dynamic than its predecessor V8, this is the right car for them. And then you have the electric one for those who like the shape, look, and feel of the G-Wagen, but say 'nowadays I don’t want to drive a combustion-engine G-Class anymore."

Source: Motor1