2021 Mercedes-Benz C-Class side view
What do the letters in Mercedes-Benz vehicle titles mean? Are the Mercedes-Benz trim level names random? These are the questions that we’ll try to answer below. You can find Mercedes-Benz vehicles here at Mercedes-Benz of Arrowhead in Peoria, AZ.
Let’s look at this question first: Do the letters in a Mercedes-Benz model name have meaning? The answer is sort of. Yes, they have meaning in the sense that the model names are organized, and different letters represent different models, but no, most of them don’t seem to have meaning in the sense that the different letters stand for something, like an acronym. So, the answer depends on how you define meaning.
The answer to this question is also mixed. Yes, the letters do correspond to vehicle size in some cases. In sedan models, the A-Class is smaller than the C-Class which is smaller than the S-Class. In this way, we can see that alphabetically, sedans are ordered from smallest to largest. However, we also know that SUVs are larger than sedans, and Mercedes-Benz SUVs start with GL.
Here, we have a list of what we do know about Mercedes-Benz model prefixes. If a model starts with the letter in the first column, then we can assume it fits in with the description of the second column. Hopefully, this guide will help you explore our inventory.
Model prefix |
Model description |
|
A-Class |
A subcompact luxury hatchback or sedan model |
|
B-Class |
Also a subcompact, this being a multipurpose vehicle |
|
C-Class |
Compact luxury sedan, coupe, and cabriolet |
|
E-Class |
Mid-size luxury sedan, coupe, and cabriolet |
|
G-Class |
A luxury off-road vehicle |
|
S-Class |
Full-size luxury sedan, coupe, and cabriolet |
|
GL |
SUV models, including GLA, GLB, GLC, GLE, and GLS |
|
CL |
Coupe-style vehicles with four doors such as the CLA and CLS |
|
SL |
Roadster vehicles including the SLC and the SL |
|
EQ |
Electric vehicles and concept vehicles |
AMG stands for Aufecht, Melcher, and GroBaspach. The words themselves refer to founder names and the city with Aufecht was born. While that is the literal translation of AMG, the meaning of AMG in a Mercedes-Benz title is different. It means that the vehicle is a performance vehicle.
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