Welcome to Brand Breakdown, a series of comprehensive yet easy-to-digest guides to your favorite companies, with insights and information you won’t find on the average About page.
Mercedes-Benz produces a wide range of cars, from relatively affordable sub-compacts to opulent pleasure sedans for the uber-rich. The company names its vehicles efficiently – no faux-French flair required – with letters and numbers. That naming system, while sensible, can get a bit confusing for buyers.
There are GLA, GLB, GLC, GLE, and GLS SUVs, none of which should be mistaken for the G-Class. That’s before you get to the multiple variations of each with different engine sizes, drivetrains and body styles. Essentially, letters found later in the alphabet denote larger, more expensive vehicles and larger numbers denote more powerful (and more costly) engines. For example, a GLA 250 is a smaller, lower-powered SUV than a GLS 580.
While in the past Mercedes-Benz model ‘numbers’ corresponded to their engine volumes (an E55 featured a 5.5-liter engine), that is no longer the case. Turbocharging and hybrid technology has advanced to the point where big horsepower can be derived from much smaller engines. An example below like the AMG E63 currently features a turbocharged 4.0-liter engine (and may get smaller in the future)
And so it’s obvious: the Mercedes-Benz lineup cries out for a helpful explainer, delineating all the different options and terms and what to expect. See below for a simplified guide.
Mercedes-Benz Sub-Brands
- EQ: Mercedes uses EQ branding for its electric vehicles.
- G: Mercedes has announced plans to break out the G-Class into its own sub-brand with a lineup of “G” vehicles.
- Mercedes-AMG: This is Mercedes’s high-performance division. AMG cars are typically sportier, more aggressively styled and more expensive than the standard models.
- Mercedes-Maybach: Mercedes revived the Maybach brand as a new luxury sub-brand. These vehicles are positioned at a much higher price point than typical Mercedes models.
- Mythos: Mercedes has announced a new Mythos lineup that will be top-of-the-line, ultra-exclusive collectors’ models. None are out yet as of December 2023.
Mercedes-Benz Terminology
- 4MATIC: All-wheel-drive
- 4MATIC+: All-wheel-drive on an AMG car
- Cabriolet: A four-seat convertible
- Coupe: A car with a sloping arch-like roofline. For Mercedes, this can be a two-door car, a four-door car or an SUV
- EQ Boost: Mild-hybrid system added to some turbocharged engines. An “electric auxiliary compressor” generates electric power as the turbocharger spools up to provide smooth acceleration
- Roadster: A two-seat convertible
The Complete Mercedes-Benz Buying Guide
Cars (Sedans, Coupes, Convertibles and Station Wagons)
C-Class
Will Sabel CourtneyThe C-Class is Mercedes’s compact car, available as a four-door sedan, two-door coupe or two-door convertible. The W206 generation debuted for the 2022 model year. A monstrous 671-horsepower C 63 S E Performance hybrid is coming for the 2024 model year.
