Mercedes-Benz has axed the entry level diesel G-Class after only 12 months on sale here – leaving the enormously in-demand G63 V8 as its sole option.
The Mercedes-Benz G400d first arrived in Australian Mercedes-Benz dealers in July 2021, joining the substantially more popular Mercedes-AMG G63 that arrived in 2018.
While the company took (and honoured) some G400d orders, the vast majority of G-Wagen buyers here opt for the wild AMG G63.
With such limited supply, the decision was made to put all focus into the version that accounts for most of the sales.
It’s worth noting that Mercedes-Benz G-Class orders have been closed since the middle of 2021, as Mercedes-Benz clears its long backlog.
G63 orders will resume at some point – it’s unclear when – but the G400d will not remain part of the line-up, a Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman told us today.
The G400d was powered by a 2.9-litre turbo-diesel inline-six-cylinder engine producing 243kW of power and 700Nm of torque.
This was mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission with drive sent through a four-wheel drive system. It also had three differential locks.
Mercedes-Benz claimed the G400d could do the 0-100km/h sprint in 6.4 seconds.
The Mercedes-Benz G400d was initially priced from $233,900 before on-road costs, but there was a subsequent price rise which saw the asking price increase to $246,500 before on-road costs.
This jump in price is seemingly minimal in comparison to the fire-breathing AMG G63 which has received a price increase of around $50,000 for the 2023 model year.
Pricing for the 2023 Mercedes-AMG G63 now starts at $365,091 before on-road costs.
In June 2022, Mercedes-Benz Australia delivered 161 examples of the G-Wagen to customers, which was the most ever in a month.
AMG G63
That was around 10 per cent of the total lifetime sales of the second-generation G-Class, was has found around 1600 owners since 2018.
Looking to the future, Mercedes-Benz revealed the “near-production”, electric Concept EQG in September 2021, with evolutionary looks and the promise of enough off-road ability to match its iconic predecessors.
