I wanted to share with you my research on how Mercedes is picking names for new models. (some of this is only my assumptions).I hope you find it interesting.
From the early day to the late 70s there were basically 4 main class
SL - Sport Leicht (light)
S - Sonderklasse (special class)
G - Geländewagen (cross-country vehicle)
W114/W123/W124 -sedans without name
(some of them had coupe version with letter C, or long version L )
In late 70s Mercedes introduced engines with direct injection (Einspritz), and all cars with those engines changed their names:
450S >> 450SE , w123 300 >> 300E , G >> GE, S coupe >> 500SEC....
In mid 90s all cars were equipped with injection so they decided to change all names:
-w124 sedans became E-class (Executive)
-letter E disappear from other names and number was placed after class 500SE >> S500
-new class were introduced: A,C, M...
-coupe models became more independent models with own names
500SEC >> CL500 -Coupe Luxus
W124 coupe >> c-class based CLK -Coupe Luxus Kurze (small), in other words smaller CL
-and new model SLK which means smaller SL (Sport Leicht Kurze)
From the 2000 Mercedes released new models
-GL Gelande Luxus
-GLK Gelande Luxus Kurze (smaller GL)
-CLS Coupe Luxus Special .. (or Coupe Luxus in S-class size)
-CLC Coupe Light C-class
-SLS Sport Light Special ?
Right now MB made right move to kill CLC, CLK, and CL and introduce real C Coupe, E Coupe (sadly still based on C) and S Coupe.
But what about all those new upcoming models? I think Mercedes will use one letter to inform about size(like Audi or BMW) preceded by two letters informing about chassis type CL for coupe, SL for sport, and GL for SUV
lets look at new models:
-baby CLS: CLA, CLC ?
-M "coupe" CLM, (or GLC = GL Coupe) ?
-small suv - GLA ,GLB ?
-baby SLS - SLE, SLC ?
that do you think about that?
From the early day to the late 70s there were basically 4 main class
SL - Sport Leicht (light)
S - Sonderklasse (special class)
G - Geländewagen (cross-country vehicle)
W114/W123/W124 -sedans without name
(some of them had coupe version with letter C, or long version L )
In late 70s Mercedes introduced engines with direct injection (Einspritz), and all cars with those engines changed their names:
450S >> 450SE , w123 300 >> 300E , G >> GE, S coupe >> 500SEC....
In mid 90s all cars were equipped with injection so they decided to change all names:
-w124 sedans became E-class (Executive)
-letter E disappear from other names and number was placed after class 500SE >> S500
-new class were introduced: A,C, M...
-coupe models became more independent models with own names
500SEC >> CL500 -Coupe Luxus
W124 coupe >> c-class based CLK -Coupe Luxus Kurze (small), in other words smaller CL
-and new model SLK which means smaller SL (Sport Leicht Kurze)
From the 2000 Mercedes released new models
-GL Gelande Luxus
-GLK Gelande Luxus Kurze (smaller GL)
-CLS Coupe Luxus Special .. (or Coupe Luxus in S-class size)
-CLC Coupe Light C-class
-SLS Sport Light Special ?
Right now MB made right move to kill CLC, CLK, and CL and introduce real C Coupe, E Coupe (sadly still based on C) and S Coupe.
But what about all those new upcoming models? I think Mercedes will use one letter to inform about size(like Audi or BMW) preceded by two letters informing about chassis type CL for coupe, SL for sport, and GL for SUV
lets look at new models:
-baby CLS: CLA, CLC ?
-M "coupe" CLM, (or GLC = GL Coupe) ?
-small suv - GLA ,GLB ?
-baby SLS - SLE, SLC ?
that do you think about that?
