Army contract clears way for Geländewagen

Land Rover is set to update its Defender next month but news has surfaced that another true offroad icon, the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen, could find its way back into Australian showrooms.

Produced for Mercedes-Benz by Steyr in Graz, Austria, the Geländewagen is currently available in G 320 CDi, G 500 and G 55 AMG passenger market variants. With the exception of the outlandish AMG version, the G-Wagens boast exemplary offroad ability.

The square-rigged traditional offroader was last sold Down Under in the late 1980s.

The chance for the G-Wagen to be reintroduced into the local market comes off the back of Mercedes' recent confirmation as preferred supplier for the Australian Defence Force's (ADF) LAND 121 project. The so-called 'Overlander' project is one of the largest transport contracts ever awarded by the Australian armed forces and will see around 1100 turbodiesel-powered military versions of the G-Wagen delivered to the ADF.

Mercedes-Benz Australia boss Horst von Sanden told the Carsales Network that the company was considering its options to reintroduce a civilian version of the G-Wagen. He cautioned, however, the fact the vehicle was produced in a relatively high-cost plant and that it did not benefit from the duty-free status like the US-built ML and GL-Class 4x4s, meant pricing could be the issue.

"For sure G-Wagen has some very passionate fans," von Sanden said. "We have to consider, however, whether we can offer the vehicle at the right sort of price."

Though the LAND 121 contract does not in itself guarantee Australian compliance for the full G-Wagen range, it does ensure that the lion's share of costs associated with compliance will be covered.

Mercedes sources have confirmed therefore that the company's certification team is pushing ahead with civilian compliance on both cab-chassis and wagon variants of the G.

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