Mercedes-Benz G-Class Professional Line under study for Oz

As the electrified Mercedes-Benz EQG stole the limelight at the recent Munich motor show, the G-Class was also shown in a new Professional Line that’s now been confirmed as being under study for Australia.

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz G-Class Professional Line is initially paired with the $246,500 G 400d that we drove recently upon its arrival in Australia, but requires a long wait for would-be owners as new orders have been halted in accordance with overseas supply drying up.

A stop-sale order is also in place for the Mercedes-AMG G 63, pricing for which has continued to climb steadily and now sits at $314,897 plus ORCs.

The Professional Line package adds smaller 18-inch wheels with all-terrain tyres, a spare wheel carrier, a roof rack with ladder, mud flaps and stone grilles for the headlights.

It also includes 10 different colour options, including a matte Night Package which offers a contrasting ‘night black magno’ colour for the roof, wheel-arches and bumpers.

Inside, there’s black leather upholstery with open-pore ash veneer with black tinting.

A Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesperson said the Professional Line was under consideration for Australia, with pricing still to be confirmed.

“Our G-Class customers are enthusiastic when it comes to personalisation, and we’re in the process of evaluating the new Professional Line Exterior package for our market,” the spokesperson said.

Separately, Mercedes-Benz has also announced a new special-operations G-Class W464 series in Europe, which is likely to be sold direct to government and military agencies rather than through dealers.

As well as also being a prospect for Australia, the W464 could open the door for a return of a more utilitarian civilian G-Professional model range, which is no longer available in Australia.

“The 464 model series marks a significant step in the development of the G-Class and offers important innovations to help emergency crews with the successful completion of their tasks,” the company said.

Available in wagon and single cab-chassis formats, the W464 is believed to be based off the previous rugged W461 platform and will offer greater on-road and off-road capability than the current showroom-ready G-Class (W463).

Full specs are still to be disclosed, but as well as the heavy-duty underpinnings of the W461 chassis, the W464 is designated a G 350d model with a 183kW/600Nm 2.9-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine.

The four-seat wagon has a permissible gross weight of 3.5 tonnes, one tonne for payload (including 200kg on the roof) and additional payload transported via a 3.5t trailer.

The ute’s permissible gross weight is 4.9t, payload 2.5t and the towing capacity also at 3.5t.

Benz says with a fuel tank capacity of up to 96 litres, a driving range of 600km-plus is “easily possible” in the W461 ute.