An entirely new niche is about to be created, and the first two companies that will contribute to it are Mercedes and Land Rover, with smaller versions of their G-Class and Defender, respectively. We’ve seen both of them on a few occasions, and our man with the cam recently encountered the former in the wild again. Spotted in pre-production form, with a lot of camouflage wrapped around its body, the Mercedes “Baby” G (name unconfirmed) posed for the camera in Europe’s freezing north, testing in cold weather conditions.
Mercedes-Benz “Baby G” // SPY PHOTOS
An entirely new niche is about to be created, and the first two companies that will contribute to it are Mercedes and Land Rover, with smaller versions of their G-Class and Defender, respectively.
We’ve seen both of them on a few occasions, and our man with the cam recently encountered the former in the wild again. Spotted in pre-production form, with a lot of camouflage wrapped around its body, the Mercedes “Baby” G (name unconfirmed) posed for the camera in Europe’s freezing north, testing in cold weather conditions.
At first glance, the model in question truly looks like a chip off the old block. It is very much a shrunken version of the iconic Mercedes G-Wagen. It has a very boxy exterior appearance, a flat hood, lots of angular angles, and a ground clearance that won’t allow it to venture that far off the beaten path. Speaking of that, it also needs some chunkier tries for enhanced traction if it wants to explore the wilderness.
For what it’s worth, it looks almost identical to the larger Mercedes G-Class, so we should probably delete that “at first glance” part from the previous paragraph. Or should we? That is for everyone who is not directly involved in the vehicle’s development to find out once the wraps come off. More on that in a few moments, as we also have to tell you that it is said to feature a chassis similar to an off-road-ready ladder-frame machine, so it should really be able to venture into the unknown if it wanted to.
Another interesting aspect about it is that the so-called Mercedes Baby G-Class was supposed to launch as a battery-electric model. However, given that the EV market is slowing in some markets, and the larger all-quiet version of the real G-Wagen isn’t exactly a best seller, we wouldn’t be surprised if the three-pointed star brand decided to go black to the drawing board and prepare at least one ICE unit for this vehicle, even if it will be partially electrified.
At first, though, the vehicle is expected to launch as an EV, if you see that box attached to the rear door, you will notice that it kind of squared off, so it is probably not a full-size spare wheel holder, but a compartment that holds the cables. We are very much excited about this model, which has been discussed for many years, and we are now even more excited about it, given that it should also go down the ICE path, besides the EV one.
Reports indicate that we will have to wait until next year to get our hands on it, as the Baby G should debut in 2027, and it will probably end up in the US as a 2028 model.
