The boxy little Mercedes that fans have been asking about for years is finally close, and two big details just came into focus. It’s coming out of Hungary rather than Germany, and buyers won’t be forced into a battery-only version.
- Mercedes plans to build the smaller G-Class at its Kecskemét plant in Hungary starting next year
- The site is nearly doubling capacity and is set to become the company’s largest factory in Europe
- An EV-only plan has been rethought, and hybrid combustion versions have been approved
Why Hungary Got the Job
The reasoning here isn’t complicated. Labor costs in Hungary sit below what Mercedes pays in Germany, and a smaller vehicle carries thinner margins than the big flagship models. Every penny saved on assembly matters more on a compact off-roader than it does on a full-size luxury SUV. So the smallest G goes to Kecskemét, where the math works better.
That does create an odd situation for a badge built on German credibility. The little one will wear the same three-pointed star as the original, but it won’t be quite as German as the name suggests. Moving the newest and most accessible member of the family to a lower-cost plant says plenty about where the pressure is coming from.
A Factory Growing Into Something Much Bigger
The Kecskemét expansion is the real story underneath all this. Annual capacity there is climbing to somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000 vehicles, close to double what the site handled before. The workforce is growing too, from roughly 3,000 people to about 7,500.
The baby G won’t be alone on those lines either. The plant is taking on the new electric C-Class, the GLB, and the combustion-powered A-Class. Put all of that together and Kecskemét becomes the biggest Mercedes production site in Europe, which is a striking shift for a company whose reputation was built on its German factories.
A reveal was expected around the middle of July, timed to land alongside the announcement about the factory expansion. Pairing a product debut with a manufacturing headline makes sense when the two decisions are this closely linked.
The Hybrid U-Turn
The powertrain news might matter more to shoppers than the assembly address. Mercedes originally planned the small G as an electric-only vehicle. That plan has changed. With electric demand cooling across the US after the federal tax credit went away, the company approved hybrid combustion versions of the shrunken off-roader.
It’s a sensible read of the room. Off-road buyers tend to worry about range in places where chargers are scarce, and a rugged little box aimed at weekend trails is exactly the kind of vehicle where that worry bites hardest. Anyone who wanted the G-Class shape and attitude without committing to a battery now has a way in.
What We Know About the Powertrains
The all-electric version is expected to use an 85 kWh NMC battery and a pair of electric motors. Power figures haven’t surfaced yet, but the range target is up to 450 miles, or 724 km. That’s an ambitious number for a shape with the aerodynamic profile of a filing cabinet, so it’s worth treating as a best-case figure until official testing numbers arrive.
The hybrid may use the same setup as the CLA sedan, which pairs a 1.5-liter engine with electric assistance for a combined 208 hp and 280 lb-ft, or 380 Nm, of torque. Those outputs could climb for this application. Nothing about the hybrid has been confirmed in detail yet.
What to Watch Before the Baby G Arrives
Two things will decide whether this one lands. The first is pricing, because the whole point of building it in Hungary is to make a smaller G affordable enough to reach past the flagship’s tiny audience. The second is what it can actually do off pavement, since a G-Class badge sets a very specific expectation.
Production starts next year, so answers shouldn’t be far off. If you’re shopping in this segment, wait for confirmed specs on both versions rather than picking a powertrain based on early estimates. The hybrid reversal alone shows how quickly these plans can shift.
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