Mercedes-Benz has confirmed plans for a return of the G-Class cabriolet nearly a decade after the last open-top version of the hardcore off-roader was phased out.
In an announcement ahead of next week’s 2025 Munich motor show, where the new soft-top is expected to make a brief appearance as part of an update from Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius on future model strategy, the German car maker has said “the G-Class portfolio will be expanded to include a cabriolet”, offered “almost everywhere in the world – and for the first time also in the US”.
No launch timing has been disclosed, but the announcement recalls a lineage of open-air G-Class models stretching back to 1979.
Cabriolets have long been part of the G-Class line-up, with the first, a two-door short-wheelbase model, introduced as part of the original line-up in 1979 and produced up to 2013.
Later came the ultra-luxury four-door G-Class Maybach G650 Landaulet, introduced in 2017 with a 621bhp twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine and based on the high-riding G63 4x4². Produced in a limited run of just 99 units, it combined a front hard top with a rear folding roof section, individual rear seats set back in the chassis and a price close to £600,000 in the UK.
A darkened preview image of the new G-Class cabriolet released by Mercedes-Benz confirms a silhouette similar to the existing model, albeit with a shortened roofline. It features familiar G-Class styling cues, including a flat bonnet, outboard indicator units atop the front wings, an upright windscreen and external rear-mounted spare wheel, but with subtle detailing that hints at a folding roof mechanism integrated into the rear.
Technical details have yet to be released, though the new open-top off-roader could conceivably be offered with a choice of diesel, petrol and electric drivetrains.
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