Mercedes' New Production Plan Could Make The 'Baby' G-Class EV Far Cheaper

Mercedes’ smaller G-Class may be built in Hungary, not Germany, to help control production costs.
The aby G reportedly moved to MMA-based hardware, giving Mercedes EV and combustion flexibility.
Mercedes could use the G-Class badge to charge premium money for a cheaper-to-build compact SUV.

Mercedes is working on a smaller version of the G-Class, which was originally supposed to be fully electric. Then reports claimed that it was being shifted to the MMA compact car platform, which supports both electric and combustion power. Now Mercedes has reportedly awarded production of the "Baby G" to its new plant in Kecskemet, Hungary, rather than its Rastatt factory in Germany, which aligns with its push to use the plant as a manufacturing hub for its lower-cost models.

The news comes from Automotive News Europe, which cites people familiar with the matter. It indicates that even though the G-Class is one of Mercedes' flagship models, its smaller brother could be a much more affordable proposition. The report that it will be made in Hungary aligns with its previously announced target of reducing production costs by 10% between 2024 and 2027, then doubling that by 2030.

Mercedes could take advantage of Hungary’s lower labor rates to bring the Baby G to market at a more affordable price than if it were made in Germany. While Mercedes makes MMA-based vehicles in both Rastatt and Kecskemet, in January it announced it was shifting production of the A-Class from Germany to Hungary while expanding its operations in the country.

Now that doesn’t mean the Baby G will be cheap, but its budget underpinnings and Hungarian production should allow Mercedes to make it more affordable. Even though the smaller model will look a lot like its bigger brother, it will likely lack its remarkable off-road ability and its military-grade ruggedness.

While it will still be designed to be good off paved roads—the G-Class’s heritage compels Mercedes to do it that way—the platform choice suggests it is in its element on-road. Mercedes already makes an electric crossover on the MMA platform—the new GLB EV—and we can see in the spy photos that the Baby G will have more ground clearance and wheel articulation.

However, it won’t be a lot more capable off-road unless Mercedes gives it a completely different powertrain and all-wheel drive system. That’s especially true for the MMA’s hybrid powertrain, which features a front-biased Haldex all-wheel drive system that only sends power to the rear when it detects slip. And the electric variant surely won’t have the big G-Class’s quad-motor powertrain, which makes it immensely capable and controlled off-road.

Very few G-Class owners actually take it off-road, though, and Mercedes knows that its smaller brother will be treated just as much as a luxury lifestyle object as the larger one. Perhaps this is why the manufacturer changed course on which platform to use and instead based the Baby G on its compact car architecture, rather than the bespoke setup it was reportedly going to be built on.

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