<Tr> <Th> Related </Th> <Td> Peugeot P4 Rheinmetall LIV (SO) (aka AGF) Interim Fast Attack Vehicle </Td> </Tr> <P> The Mercedes - Benz G - Class, sometimes called G - Wagen (short for Geländewagen, "cross country vehicle"), is a mid-size four - wheel drive luxury SUV manufactured by Magna Steyr (formerly Steyr - Daimler - Puch) in Austria and sold by Mercedes - Benz . In certain markets, it has been sold under the Puch name as Puch G . The G - wagen is characterised by its boxy styling and body - on - frame construction . It uses three fully locking differentials, one of the few vehicles to have such a feature . Despite the introduction of an intended replacement, the unibody SUV Mercedes - Benz GL - Class in 2006, the G - Class is still in production and is one of the longest produced Mercedes - Benz in Daimler's history, with a span of 35 years . Only the Unimog surpasses it . </P> <P> The G - class was developed as a military vehicle from a suggestion by the Shah of Iran (at the time a significant Mercedes shareholder) to Mercedes and offered as a civilian version in 1979 . In this role it is sometimes referred to as the "Wolf". The Peugeot P4 was a variant made under licence in France with a Peugeot engine . The first military in the world to use it was the Argentine Army (Ejército Argentino) beginning in 1981 with the military model 461 . </P> <P> It was not available from Mercedes - Benz in the United States until 2002, although this was preceded by a grey - market where even basic models commanded six - figure prices in the 1990s . It was launched in 2002 as the Mercedes - Benz G500 with a V - 8 petrol engine and achieved 3,114 sales that year . This eventually tapered down to less than 1,000 models sold in some years . However, in the 2010s, sales began to increase again surpassing the 3,000 mark in 2014 and in 2015, it sold more than during its launch year; with 3,616 sold that year . In 2016 this increased to 3950 in the United States . Canada saw a similar increase, which, although is a smaller market compared to the United States; saw sales increase from 127 in 2012 to over 400 in 2016 . </P>

When was the first mercedes g class made