"World Car Award" for the Mercedes-Benz M-Class

M-Class voted the ideal "World Car"

A jury of 22 international motor journalists bestowed the much sought-after "World Car Award" upon the Mercedes-Benz M-Class at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. This prestigious award goes to the car which is most suited for use in all five populated continents of the world. The majority of the top journalists from America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia comprising the jury placed the innovative off-roader way out in front of the competition, voting it the ideal "world car".

In particular, the independent specialists honoured the unique combination of variable utility, convincing price/value ratio, exemplary safety, futuristic design, and excellent off-road capabilities combined with on-road qualities to match those of a saloon. "No other model world-wide fulfils the requirements made of a car better than the M-Class" declared the Italian jury leader, Sergio Favia del Core, summarizing the opinions of the car experts. For Dr. Gerhard Fritz, Head of M, V, and G-Class management, and his predecessor Andreas Renschler, this constitutes confirmation of the capabilities embodied in the concept: "Right from the stage at which we drew up the specifications book, our aim with the M-Class was to create a genuine all-activity vehicle," commented Dr. Fritz.

The M-Class which is available with a modern 6 or 8 cylinder engine is distinguished by its ingenious 4-ETS all-wheel-drive concept which ensures reliable traction on all road-surfaces and terrain yet without resorting to heavy and complicated components like locking differentials. This makes the M-Class both great fun to drive and extremely comfortable.

The extensive range of equipment available as standard includes an anti-lock braking system, driver and passenger airbags, an electronically selectable off-road gear ratio, alloy wheels and rear and roof rails.

Since production began in May 1997, over 100,000 M-Class vehicles have been built. Backing up Tuscaloosa, the start-up of production in Graz in May this year is intended to reduce delivery times and substantially boost annual production figures.