2018 Detroit Motor Show: Mercedes-Benz G-Class images leak online

THE 2018 Mercedes-Benz G-Class has been revealed in full ahead of its official Detroit Motor Show debut after images of the boxy off-roader slipped online overnight.

We’ve all but seen all the elements of the third-generation G-Class – the civilian version of the military-spec G-Wagen that’s recently been added to Australia’s army car pool – but up until now, the exterior has worn heavy camouflage. These pics, though, give us our first look at what lies beneath the dazzle disguise.

Yeah, not much has changed. There’s some new plastics around the front that give the G-Class some butch looks, there’s a new-look grille that adds a touch of class, and that’s about it. Interestingly, the G-Class retains its roof gutter, meaning there’s still a solid mount point for a full-size roof rack.

You have to crack open the driver’s door to see where the big changes to the G-Class have been made. The interior, which we’ve already seen revealed in full, loses some of its mud-plugging links to look more like a luxury car than a off-road specialists adapted for the cashed-up urban explorer.

A highlight, believed to be reserved for more expensive versions of the G-Class, is a dual-screen digital dashboard housed behind a single pane of glass that stretches across the front seats. Lower-spec cars are expected to retain a more traditional analogue instrument cluster and separate Comand multimedia screen.

Mercedes-Benz is holding its Detroit Motor Show press conference on January 14, a day before the show’s first official media day kicks off.

But the German car maker could still have a surprise in store for us; a dual-cab version of the G-Class was spied testing in northern Europe earlier this year. It’s either that, or an adaption of the landaulet-roofed concept version of the off-roader unveiled at last year’s Geneva Motor Show. That concept version of the G-Class wore a Mercedes-Maybach badge, though, suggesting the German luxury brand is keen to push its most utilitarian luxury car as far up the upmarket mountain as it can. Luckily, it appears to be just as well suited as its previous versions to climbing things.