Current model range

Mercedes-Benz carries a full range of passenger, light commercial and heavy commercial equipment. Vehicles are manufactured in multiple countries worldwide. The Smart marque of city cars and Maybach luxury cars are also produced by Daimler AG.

Passenger cars

The following passenger vehicles were in production in 2011:

A-Class—Hatchback

B-Class—Multi-Activity

C-Class—Saloon, Estate & Coupé

CL-Class—Coupé

CLS-Class—Coupé

E-Class—Saloon, Estate, Coupé & Cabriolet

G-Class—Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GL-Class—Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GLK-Class - Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

M-Class—Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

R-Class—Luxury Tourer Vehicle (LTV)

S-Class—Saloon

SL-Class—Roadster

SLK-Class—Roadster

SLS AMG—Coupé  (old and new)

Viano—Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV)

Car nomenclature




Until 1994, Mercedes-Benz used an alphanumeric system for categorising their vehicles, consisting of a number sequence approximately equal to the motor's displacement in liters multiplied by 100, followed by an arrangement of alphabetical suffixes indicating body style and motor type.
"C" indicates a coupe or cabriolet body style.
"D" means the vehicle is equipped with a diesel motor.
"E" (for "Einspritzen") means the vehicle's engine is equipped with petrol fuel injection. In most cases (the 600 limousine being the exception), if neither "E" or "D" is present, the vehicle has a petrol motor with a carburettor.
"G" denotes the Gelandewagen off-road vehicle.
"K" was used in the 1930s, indicating a supercharger ("Kompressor") equipped engine. One exception is the SSK, where K indicates "Kurz" (short-wheelbase).
"L" means "Leicht" (lightweight) for sporting models, and "Lang" (long-wheelbase) for sedan models.
"R" stands for "Rennen" (racing), used for racing cars (for example, the 300SLR).
"S" means "Sport" for high-performance models or "Special" for flagship models.
"T" stands for "Touring" and indicates an estate (or station wagon) body style.

Some models in the 1950s also had lower-case letters (b, c, and d) to indicate specific trim levels.

For some models, the numeric part of the designation does not match the motor displacement. This was done to show the model's position in the model lineup independent of displacement or in the price matrix. For these vehicles, the actual displacement in liters is suffixed to the model designation. For example, the 190-class all had "190" for the numeric designation, regardless of the motor size, to indicate their entry-level status. Also, some older models (such as the SS and SSK) did not have a number as part of the designation at all.

For the 1994 model year, Mercedes-Benz revised the naming system. Models were divided into "classes" denoted by an arrangement of up to three letters (see "Current model range" above), followed by a three-digit (or two-digit for AMG models, with the number approximately equal to the displacement in liters multiplied by 10) number related to the engine size, as before. Variants of the same model (such as an estate version, or a vehicle with a diesel engine) are no longer given a separate letter. In most cases, the class designation is arbitrary. The SLR and SLS supercars do not carry a numerical designation.

As before, some models' numerical designations do not match the motor's actual displacement; in these cases the number shows the model's relative performance within the class. For example, the E250 CGI has greater performance than the E200 CGI because of different engine tuning, even though both have 1.8-litre motors. Recent AMG models use the "63" designation (in honor of the 1960s 6.3-litre M100 motor) despite being equipped with either a 6.2-litre (M156) or 5.5-litre (M157) motor.

Some models carry further designations indicating special features:
"4MATIC" means the vehicle is equipped with all-wheel-drive.
"BlueTEC" indicates a diesel motor with selective catalytic reduction exhaust aftertreatment.
"BlueEFFICIENCY" indicates special fuel economy features (direct injection, start-stop system, aerodynamic modifications, etc.)
"CGI" (Charged Gasoline Injection) indicates direct gasoline injection.
"CDI" (Common-rail Direct Injection) indicates a common-rail diesel motor.
"Hybrid" indicates a gasoline- or diesel-electric hybrid.
"NGT" indicates a natural gas-fueled motor.
"Kompressor" indicates a supercharged motor.
"Turbo" indicates a turbocharged motor, only used on A-, B-,Е- and GLK-Class models.

All model designation badges can be deleted upon the customer's request.

Motorsport

The two companies which were merged to form the Mercedes-Benz brand in 1926 had both already enjoyed success in the new sport of motor racing throughout their separate histories—both had entries in the very first automobile race Paris to Rouen 1894. This has continued, and throughout its long history, the company has been involved in a range of motorsport activities, including sports car racing and rallying. On several occasions Mercedes-Benz has withdrawn completely from motorsport for a significant period, notably in the late 1930s, and after the 1955 Le Mans disaster, where a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR collided with another car and killed more than 80 spectators. Stirling Moss and co-driver Denis Jenkinson made history by winning the 1955 Mille Miglia road race in Italy during a record-breaking drive with an average speed was almost 98 mph in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR.

Although there was some activity in the intervening years, it was not until 1987 that Mercedes-Benz returned to front line competition, returning to Le Mans, Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM), and Formula One with Sauber. The 1990s saw Mercedes-Benz purchase British engine builder Ilmor (now Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines), and campaign IndyCars under the USAC/CART rules, eventually winning the 1994 Indianapolis 500 and 1994 CART IndyCar World SeriesChampionship with Al Unser, Jr. at the wheel. The 1990s also saw the return of Mercedes-Benz to GT racing, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR, both of which took the company to new heights by dominating the FIA's GT1 class.

Mercedes-Benz is currently active in three forms of motorsport, Formula Three, DTM and Formula One.

Formula 1

Mercedes-Benz took part in the world championship in 1954 and 1955, but despite being successful with two championship titles for Juan-Manuel Fangio, the company left the sport after just two seasons. He is considered by many to be the best F1 driver in history.

Mercedes-Benz returned as an engine supplier in the 1990s and part-owned Team McLaren for some years, to which it has supplied engines engineered by Ilmor since 1995. This partnership brought success, including drivers championships for Mika Häkkinen in 1998 and 1999, and for Lewis Hamilton in 2008, as well as a constructors championship in 1998. The collaboration with McLaren had been extended into the production of roadgoing cars such as the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

In 2007 McLaren and Mercedes was fined a record $100 Million for stealing confidential Ferrari technical data.

In 2009, Ross Brawn's newly conceived Formula One team, Brawn GP used Mercedes engines to help win the constructor's championship, and Jenson Button to become champion in the F1 drivers' championship. At the end of the season, Mercedes-Benz sold back its 40% stake in McLaren to the McLaren Group and bought 70% of the Brawn GP team jointly with an Abu Dubai based investment consortium. Brawn GP was renamed Mercedes GP for the 2010 season and is, from this season on, a works team for Mercedes-Benz.