The “Class” system for Mercedes only came about in 1972 with the arrival of their W116 car, which they created the S-Class for. The S-Class was launched in order to introduce a series of flagship cars.

In 1994, the manufacturer changed the nomenclature of their cars, so a model would be named by a letter, and followed by up to three digits.

This alphanumerical system was to categorise the cars better. The old system saw the letter represent the class it belonged to, and the numbers represented the engine’s displacement in litres multiplied by 100. This would the follow a suffix of letters, which indicated body style and engine type.

According to Mercedes, the old alphanumerical system was as follows:

  •          “C” indicated a coupe or cabriolet body style
  •          “D” indicates the vehicle is equipped with a diesel engine.
  •          “E” (for “Einspritzung”) indicates the vehicle’s engine is equipped with petrol fuel injection.
  •          “G” was originally used for the Geländewagen off-road vehicle, but is now applied to Mercedes SUVs in general (for example, the GLA and GLK).
  •          “K” was used in the 1930s, indicating a supercharger (“Kompressor”) equipped engine.
  •          “L” indicates “Leicht” (lightweight) for sporting models, and “Lang” (long-wheelbase) for sedan models.
  •          “R” indicates “Rennen” (racing), used for racing cars (for example, the 300SLR).
  •          “S” Sonderklasse “Special class” for flagship models, including the S-Class, and the SL-Class, SLR McLaren and SLS sports cars.
  •                “T” indicates “Touring” and an estate (or station wagon) body style

In Mercedes’s new system, letters were designated to mean the following:

A-Class – Hatchback

B-Class – Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV)

C-Class – Saloon, Estate & Coupé

CL-Class – Luxury Coupé

CLA-Class – 4 Door Coupé

CLS-Class – 4 Door Coupé

E-Class – Saloon, Estate, Coupé and Cabriolet

G-Class – Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GL-Class – Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GLA-Class – Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

GLK-Class – Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

M-Class – Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)

R-Class – Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV)

S-Class – Luxury Sedan

SL-Class – Roadster

SLK-Class – Roadster

It was at this point in around 1994 that Mercedes started to expand on the range of models they were producing. Prior to this, Mercedes were mainly producing four types – a sports car, a midsize sedan, an upper class sedan and a luxury stretch limousine. Nowadays, they have the full range of vehicles – from hatchbacks to trucks.