Mercedes-Benz M-Class

The M-Class (or ML) was first introduced in 1997 as the Mercedes-Benz W 163 . It is the first SUV from Mercedes-Benz . As is typical for SUVs, the M-Class has a high trailer load , making this model particularly suitable for towing heavy trailers. The maximum permissible braked trailer load is 3500 kg.

The M-Class has been produced as the first Mercedes by Mercedes-Benz US International in Vance near Tuscaloosa (Alabama / USA) since 1997 . However, BMW had already registered the designation “M” for its sports models. That is why an agreement was reached with BMW on the designation M-Class, but the models are sold under the abbreviation "ML" (e.g. ML 320).

The first generation was replaced by the successor model Mercedes-Benz W 164 in 2005 .

The successor model, the Mercedes-Benz W 166 , was launched on the German market on November 19, 2011 and was previously presented to the public on June 7, 2011.

From 1997 to April 2011, a total of 1,170,000 M-Class vehicles were delivered to customers.

In 2015, the M-Class was renamed and followed the new nomenclature that had already been introduced with the GLA . The M-Class became the GLE , which should clarify the affiliation to the E-Class , analogously the GL became the GLS and the GLK became the GLC .

M-Class models

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  Mercedes-Benz W 163 (1997-2005)

• 

  Mercedes-Benz W 164 (2005-2011)

• 

  Mercedes-Benz W 166 (2011-2015)

Market positioning in Germany

year	M-class	X5	Touareg	XC90	Cayenne
1998 1	7,625	-	-	-	-
1999	12,877	114	-	-	-
2000	14,728	4,265	-	-	-
2001	16.801	9,239	-	-	-
2002	21,263	13,851	1,909	31	509
2003	17,074	15,881	8,657	2,651	5,096
2004	14.301	18,268	18,238	5,220	6,019
2005 2	13,496	13,658	17,835	6.706	5,384
2006	19,644	10,676	14.008	8,270	4.101
2007	18,394	14,436	11,715	5,669	4,832
2008	14,672	16,416	9,207	4,050	4.152
2009	8,240	10,904	4,850	1,721	4,180
2010	7,596	10,830	7,258	1,881	5,266
2011 3	6,850	9,870	10,438	2,260	6.091
2012	14,844	8,166	10,641	1,850	8,521
2013	12,105	5,818	9,000	1,741	7,076
2014	9,688	12,664	8,958	1,354	5,374
2015	11,182	10,685	11,047	4,427	6,414
2016	15.096	9,393	7,927	7,378	7.168

Mercedes-Benz broke new ground with the market launch of the M-Class in March 1998. The M-Class had already been sold for a year in the USA and quickly enjoyed great popularity there. The vehicle concept quickly established itself in Germany and became a success. While new registrations in the first full year of new registrations were 12,877, which meant 63rd place in the German new registrations statistics, these increased steadily until 2002 and reached 21,263 units (rank 37, +26). This value is the highest for the M-Class to date. Then the new registrations for the model fell until 2005, so that the M-Class took 63rd place this year. Only with the introduction of the second generation could new registrations in 2006 be increased to the highest level since 2002. It was also the second best year on the German market to date. The M-Class took 49th place, and 40th in 2007. After the number of new registrations fell sharply in 2009, the M-Class only reached 92nd place in the German new registration statistics this year, made up another four places in the following year and ended up in 88th place at the end of its production cycle. 2011 was the worst year to date in the history of the M-Class. It achieved a place outside of the Top 100 for the first time, both in absolute terms and in terms of ranking, with 106th place. It was only with the introduction of the third generation that the M-Class managed to occupy 58th place in 2012.

While the M-Class represented a novelty in the first two years and none of the competing manufacturers offered an equivalent product, the M-Class completely dominated the market for SUVs of its size. Only in mid-2000 did BMW follow suit with the X5 and could not match the figures for the M-Class up to and including 2003. It was not until the last full year of production of the first generation of the M-Class that the X5 managed to find more buyers than the M-Class, so that BMW had overtaken Mercedes-Benz. But it wasn't just the manufacturer BMW who saw potential in this class, but also other manufacturers. In 2002 Volkswagen followed suit with the Touareg, Volvo with the XC90 and Porsche with the Cayenne, creating increased competitive pressure. In addition to the X5, the Touareg also overtook the M-Class in 2004. With the introduction of the second generation of the M-Class, Mercedes-Benz was able to relegate BMW and Volkswagen to the positions in 2006 and 2007, so that the M-Class had become the market leader. Between 2008 and 2011, new registrations fell according to the model cycle. In 2012 and 2013, the M-Class was once again the leader in terms of new registrations in Germany.

¹ Introduction of the 163 series in March 1998

² Introduction of the 164 series in March 2005

³ Introduction of the 166 series in November 2011

Web links

Commons : Mercedes-Benz M-Class  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ mobile.de: Technical data for the Mercedes M-Class (W 166) , accessed on September 21, 2019
2. ↑ Introduced: the new Mercedes M-Class , rentaka.de, June 7, 2011
3. ↑ Mercedes-Benz Cars at a glance. Edition 2011. ( Memento from September 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Page 30.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Segmentation of passenger cars 1999/2000. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on November 24, 2005 ; Retrieved September 7, 2013 . 
5. ↑ Segmentation of passenger cars December 2001 (PDF; 89 kB) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
6. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars by segment and type group as well as with diesel drive in December 2002. (PDF; 108 kB) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
7. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars by segment and type group as well as with diesel drive in December 2003. (PDF; 115 kB) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
8. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in Germany by brand and model as well as with diesel and all-wheel drive in December 2004. (PDF) Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
9. ^ Advance information about new registrations - reporting month: December 2005. New registrations of passenger cars by brand and model series. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
10. ↑ New registrations - reporting month: December 2006. New registrations of passenger cars by brand and model series. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
11. ^ Advance information on new registrations - reporting month: December 2007. New registrations of passenger cars by brand and model series. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
12. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2008 by brand and model series. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2009 by brand and model series. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
14. ^ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2010 by brand and model series. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2011 by brand and model series. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on October 30, 2014 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2012 by brand and model series. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2013 by brand and model series. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Federal Motor Transport Authority , archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; Retrieved March 25, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2014 by brand and model series. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 25, 2015 . 
19. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2015 by segment and model series. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 29, 2017 . 
20. ↑ New registrations of passenger cars in December 2016 by segment and model series. (PDF) Federal Motor Transport Authority , accessed on March 29, 2017 .